Fig 2:
Design of MMP- and plasmin-selective PEG-VS hydrogels. We designed PEG-VS hydrogel scaffold systems with selective protease sensitivity by crosslinking multiple-arm PEG-VS with dithiol peptides with selective sensitivity to plasmin or MMPs (A). Hydrogels were crosslinked, swollen in PBS overnight, exposed to plasmin (5 mU/mL), and at indicated times, characterized by shear rheology. Hydrogels crosslinked with YKNR were readily degradable by plasmin as measured by shear rheology, whereas VPMS and YD-KND-R crosslinked hydrogels were insensitive to plasmin (B).