2.4 Self-assembling biomaterials

Self-assembly has become a useful way of constructing biomaterials for a variety of applications ranging from cell culture to tissue engineering. Attractive features of self-assembled biomaterials include chemical definition, modularity, stimulus-sensitivity, and the ability to produce complex supramolecular objects from comparatively simple precursors. These aspects also make self-assembly an effective way of bridging the practicality of synthetic materials with the molecular and structural complexity of biologically derived materials. In this chapter, self-assembling strategies are summarized, with particular emphasis on materials employing peptides and proteins as the essential oligomerizing components. Two-dimensional self-assemblies, primarily self-assembled monolayers, are also overviewed. Immune responses to supramolecular biomaterials, advantages that arise from self-assembling approaches, and examples of recent in vivo applications of these materials are additionally discussed.