Using β-Lactamase to Trigger Supramolecular Hydrogelation

This paper reports the rational design and synthesis of a β-lactam conjugate. Treating the conjugate with β-lactamase cleaves the scissile β-lactam amide bond, releases a hydrogelator, and results in enzymatic formation of a supramolecular hydrogel. The process involves the use of a bacterial enzyme the one causes antibiotic inactivation and accounts for resistance to β-lactams in many clinical important pathogens to catalyze the formation of the hydrogel. It offers an opportunity to investigate the kinetics of these types of enzymatic reactions, screen inhibitors of the enzyme, and provides a new candidate to generate hydrogels for biomedical applications.