Mechanotransducing Hydrogel for Switching Enzyme Reactions through Modulation of Multivalent Salt-Bridge Interactions.

Mechanoresponsive materials can harness mechanical forces to initiate molecular events and alter their physicochemical properties. Enzyme reactions, which enable diverse chemical transformations under mild conditions, have great potential as outputs of the mechanoresponse, especially in biological applications. Here, we present a hydrogel-based platform that realizes mechanotransduction to enzyme reactions through the modulation of multivalent salt-bridge interactions between a polymeric inhibitor incorporated within the gel network and an enzyme in the gel matrix. As a proof-of-concept study, two types of hydrogels were developed: