Design Strategies to Tune the Structural and Mechanical Properties of Synthetic Collagen Hydrogels

As an important component of biomaterials, collagen provides three-dimensional scaffolds and biological cues for cell adhesion and proliferation in tissue engineering. Recombinant collagen-like proteins, which were initially discovered in Streptococcus pyogenes and produced in heterologous hosts, have been chemically and genetically engineered for biomaterial applications. However, existing collagen-like proteins do not form gels, limiting their...