A Dual-Responsive Peptide Hydrogel Protects Normal Cells from Anticancer Drug Treatments

Enzyme-instructed self-assembly (EISA) represents a promising approach to generate functional biomaterials with unique properties for biomedical applications. While EISA has been extensively studied in the context of pericellular hydrogel formation for inhibiting cancer cells, its potential in protecting cells during antitumor drug treatment has remained unexplored. In this study, we designed a dual-responsive peptide 1p, which responds to both Ca2+ and ALP, undergoing dephosphorylation on the cell surface. This process leads to the formation of a protective pericellular hydrogel that effectively shields cells from the harmful effects of anticancer drug cisplatin. Furthermore, our findings highlight the suitability of peptide hydrogel 1 for cell encapsulation and transplantation, thus broadening its potential applications in cell delivery. This study reports a peptide hydrogel capable of safeguarding normal cell during anticancer drug treatment and underscoring the great potential of the peptide hydrogel for diverse biomedical applications.