Therapeutic peptides can support important biological processes such as bone formation, blood vessel growth, and tissue repair. However, their small size can make controlled delivery difficult, as they may quickly diffuse out of water-rich materials like hydrogels before providing sufficient therapeutic effects.

In a new study published in Cell Biomaterials, researchers at Rice University, in collaboration with Kyoto University, developed a strategy to control peptide release by modifying the electrical charge of both the therapeutic peptide and gelatin microparticles used for delivery.

The team focused on osteogenic growth peptide (OGP), a small molecule associated with bone formation. By adding charged amino acid sequences to OGP and loading the modified peptides into gelatin microparticles, researchers found that electrostatic interactions could improve peptide retention and reduce rapid initial release.

A positively charged version of the peptide showed particularly promising results, releasing gradually over 14–21 days under conditions designed to mimic a healing tissue environment. The researchers found that modifying the peptide's charge had a greater impact on release behavior than adding additional charged sequences to the gelatin carrier.

Unlike methods that permanently bind therapeutic peptides to delivery materials, this approach uses noncovalent interactions, allowing the peptide to be released in its soluble form and potentially remain biologically active.

The findings highlight a flexible platform for tailoring peptide release rates and could support future applications in bone regeneration, tissue repair, blood vessel formation, and regenerative medicine

Source: https://news.rice.edu/news/2026/rice-researchers-use-electrical-charge-improve-controlled-peptide-delivery