Design of Stimuli-Responsive Peptides and Proteins

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive peptides and proteins are an exciting class of smart biomaterials for various applications and have received significant attention over the past decades. A wide variety of stimuli such as temperature, pH, ions, enzymes, magnetic field, redox, etc., are explored. This article provides a review of five intensively studied types of stimuli-responsive peptides and proteins, their design principles and applications, including temperature-, pH-, light-, metal ion-, and enzyme-responsive with an emphasis on the key design concepts and switch function. Moreover, typical examples of their applications are discussed to provide a better understanding of the design concept and underlying methodology. This review will facilitate and inspire future innovation toward new peptide- and protein-based materials and their diverse applications.