Self-assembling ultrashort peptides modified with bioactive agents by click chemistry

A hydrogel comprising a first peptide having the general formula

• B*-Zp-(X)m-(Y)n-Z′q or Zp-(X)m-(Y)n-Z′q-B* or B*-Zp-(X)m-(Y)n-Z′q-B*
• wherein
• B* is a bioactive agent comprising anti-cancer therapeutic;
• X is, at each occurrence, independently selected from an aliphatic amino acid, an aliphatic amino acid derivative and a glycine;
• Y is, at each occurrence, independently selected from a polar amino acid and a polar amino acid derivative;
• Z is an N-terminal protecting group;
• Z′ is a C-terminal protecting group;
• m is an integer selected from 2 to 6;
• n is selected from 1 or 2;
• and
• p and q are independently selected from 0 or 1,
• wherein said hydrogel further comprises a second peptide having the general formula
• Z-(X)m-(Y)n-Z′q,
• wherein said bioactive agent is covalently linked to the N-terminus and/or the C-terminus of said first peptide by means of a click chemistry reaction and the release of the bioactive agent is triggered via hydrolysis of the hydrogel, and wherein the covalent attachment of the bioactive agent to the first peptide and the release of the bioactive agent via hydrolysis are capable of achieving sustained or controlled release delivery of said bioactive agent wherein said second peptide is used as a matrix, and wherein the hydrogel comprises 10 wt % of the first peptide and 90 wt % of the second peptide.