UTA research teams have recently created a new type of pH-sensitive peptide material that includes artificial amino acids with different chemical structures in their side chains. By varying the hydrophobic and ionic properties of these amino acids, these materials can be engineered to leverage pH variations across different bodily environments, spanning organ, tissue, and cellular levels. By harnessing these pH gradients, the pH-responsive peptides are expected to efficiently deliver therapeutic agents to specific tissues or even cellular compartments.

Read more in the research article, Modular Design and Self-assembly of pH-Responsive Multidomain Peptides Incorporating Non-natural Ionic Amino Acids.