Table 1.
Peptide sequences utilized.
| Type | Full name | Abbreviation | Sequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Linker” forms (for hydrogel tethering) | Qk with fast linker | Qk(FL) | "Qk"-PES↓LRAG-C-G (no extra C-terminal I) |
| Qk with moderate linker | Qk(ML) | "Qk"-GPQG↓IWGQ-C-G | |
| Qk with slow linker | Qk(SL) | "Qk"-VPLS↓LYSG-C-G | |
| Qk with non-releasing linker 1 | Qk(NRL1) | "Qk"-SGESPAY↓YTA-C-G | |
| Qk with non-releasing linker 2 | Qk(NRL2) | "Qk"-PVS↓LRSG-C-G (no extra C-terminal I) | |
| Scrambled with fast linker | Scrambled(FL) | "Scrambled"-IPES↓LRAG-C-G | |
| “Tail” forms (predicted release forms) | Qk with fast linker tail | Qk(FT) | "Qk"-PES-G (no extra C-terminal I) |
| Qk with moderate linker tail | Qk(MT) | "Qk"-GPQG-G | |
| Qk with slow linker tail | Qk(ST) | "Qk"-VPLS-G | |
| Qk with non-releasing linker 1 tail | Qk(NRT1) | "Qk"-SGESPAY-G | |
| Qk with non-releasing linker 2 tail | Qk(NRT2) | "Qk"-PVS-G (no extra C-terminal I) | |
| “Native” form (drug alone) | Native Qk | Qk(N) | "Qk"-G |
| Scrambled control peptide | Scrambled | "Scrambled" (no extra C-terminal G) | |
| Miscellaneous | Non-enzymatically degradable crosslinker | NDL | CLGKGKGKGLCG |
| Cell adhesion peptide | RGD | CG-RGDS-G | |
Standard amino acid abbreviations are used. ↓ indicates MMP cleavage site. "Qk" is the VEGF peptide mimic KLTWQELYQLKYKGI;[4b] "Scrambled" is the scrambled control peptide GLKEQSPRKHRLG. While all linkers used here were reported in literature to be susceptible to cleavage by MMP2,[7] the observed Qk release behaviors were not consistent with literature predictions. Therefore, peptide linkers are named based on their observed Qk release profiles as used in this application, and not based on their published linker-alone cleavage kinetics.