Bioinspired Histidine–Zn(2+) Coordination for Tuning the Mechanical Properties of Self-Healing Coiled Coil Cross-Linked Hydrogels

Natural biopolymeric materials often possess properties superior to their individual components. In mussel byssus, reversible histidine (His)–metal coordination is a key feature, which mediates higher-order self-assembly as well as self-healing. The byssus structure, thus, serves as an excellent natural blueprint for the development of self-healing biomimetic materials with reversibly tunable mechanical properties. Inspired by byssal threads, we bioengineered His–metal coordination sites into a heterodimeric coiled coil (CC). These CC-forming peptides serve as a noncovalent cross-link for poly(ethylene glycol)-based hydrogels and participate in the formation of higher-order assemblies via intermolecular His–metal coordination as a second cross-linking mode. Raman and circular dichroism spectroscopy revealed the presence of α-helical, Zn(2+) cross-linked aggregates. Using rheology, we demonstrate that the hydrogel is self-healing and that the addition of Zn(2+) reversibly switches the hydrogel properties from viscoelastic to elastic. Importantly, using different Zn(2+):His ratios allows for tuning the hydrogel relaxation time over nearly three orders of magnitude. This tunability is attributed to the progressive transformation of single CC cross-links into Zn(2+) cross-linked aggregates; a process that is fully reversible upon addition of the metal chelator ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. These findings reveal that His–metal coordination can be used as a versatile cross-linking mechanism for tuning the viscoelastic properties of biomimetic hydrogels.