Nanoengineered Peptide‐Based Antimicrobial Conductive Supramolecular Biomaterial for Cardiac Tissue Engineering

Owing to their dynamic nature and ordered architecture, supramolecular materials strikingly resemble organic components of living systems. Although short‐peptide self‐assembled nanostructured hydrogels are regarded as intriguing supramolecular materials for biotechnology, their application is often limited due to their low stability and considerable challenge of combining other desirable properties. Herein, a di‐Fmoc‐based hydrogelator containing the cell‐adhesive Arg–Gly–Asp (RGD) fragment that forms a mechanically stable, self‐healing hydrogel is designed. Molecular dynamics simulation reveals the presence of RGD segments on the surface of the hydrogel fibers, highlighting their cell adherence capacity. Aiming to impart conductivity, the 3D network of the hydrogel is further nanoengineered by incorporating polyaniline (PAni). The composite hydrogels demonstrate semiconductivity, excellent antibacterial activity, and DNA binding capacity. Cardiac cells grown on the surface of the composite hydrogels form functional synchronized monolayers. Taken together, the combination of these attributes in a single hydrogel suggests it as an exceptional candidate for functional supramolecular biomaterial designed for electrogenic tissue engineering. A de novo RGD‐containing peptide is shown to form self‐healing and biocompatible hydrogels. Nanoengineering the network of the peptide hydrogel by polyaniline integration results in a semiconducting composite hydrogel showing excellent antibacterial properties and DNA binding ability. The composite hydrogel further supports the growth of cardiac cells into functional synchronized monolayers, thus highlighting its potential as an excellent supramolecular biomaterial.