Peptide hydrogelation triggered by enzymatic induced pH switch

It remains challenging to develop methods that can precisely control the self-assembling kinetics and thermodynamics of peptide hydrogelators to achieve hydrogels with optimal properties. Here we report the hydrogelation of peptide hydrogelators by an enzymatically induced pH switch, which involves the combination of glucose oxidase and catalase with D-glucose as the substrate, in which both the gelation kinetics and thermodynamics can be controlled by the concentrations of D-glucose. This novel hydrogelation method could result in hydrogels with higher mechanical stability and lower hydrogelation concentrations. We further illustrate the application of this hydrogelation method to differentiate different D-glucose levels.