Characterization of Novel Cell-Adhesive Peptides for Biomaterial Development

In previous studies, my group developed cell-adhesive peptide–polysaccharide complexes as biomaterials for tissue engineering. Having a wide variety of cell-adhesive peptides is important as the biological functions of peptide–polysaccharide complexes are highly dependent on the biological activity of peptides. This paper reviews the biological activities of two types of recently characterized cell-adhesive peptides. The first is peptides rich in basic amino acids originating from octaarginine. We analyzed the relationships between the amino acid composition of basic peptides and cell adhesion, elongation, and proliferation and identified the most suitable peptide for cell culture. The second was arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD)-containing peptides that promote the adhesion of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We identified the RGD-surrounding sequences necessary for iPSC adhesion, clarified the underlying mechanism, and improved cell adhesion by modifying the structure–activity relationships. The novel cell-adhesive peptides identified in our previous studies may aid in the development of novel peptide-based biomaterials.