{
  "id": 372450,
  "title": "Charge-based strategy improves controlled delivery of therapeutic peptides from gelatin-based materials",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/09/charge-based-strategy-improves-controlled-delivery-of-therapeutic",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-09T11:20:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-08-based-strategy-delivery-therapeutic-peptides.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Rice University engineers have devised a novel method to control the release of therapeutic peptides from gelatin-based materials, potentially enhancing their utility in tissue engineering and drug delivery. Peptides, which can stimulate biological processes like bone formation and tissue repair, are more stable and easier to manufacture than larger proteins. However, their small size makes them prone to rapid diffusion when embedded in water-rich materials such as hydrogels, limiting their effectiveness. A study published in Cell Biomaterials reveals that modifying the electrical charge of a bone-promoting peptide and the gelatin microparticles used to carry it can significantly slow the peptide's release, extending it from days to weeks. By adjusting the peptide's charge, researchers strengthened its interaction with the gelatin carrier, which is biocompatible and naturally charged, allowing systematic study of the charge effects. The study focused on osteogenic growth peptide (OGP), associated with bone formation, and tested positively charged, negatively charged, and electrically balanced versions. Loading these peptides into gelatin microparticles, the team observed that positively charged peptide modifications increased retention within the gelatin particles and reduced initial burst release. Gelatin's charge also influenced delivery, but adding extra charged sequences to the gelatin had limited effects. Positively charged OGP variants were released gradually for 14 to 21 days in enzyme-containing conditions mimicking a healing tissue environment. This charge modification technique offers a powerful way to tailor peptide delivery, potentially enabling customizable release profiles for various regenerative applications, such as blood vessel formation or tissue regeneration.",
  "summary": "Rice University engineers have developed a new strategy for controlling how therapeutic peptides are released from gelatin-based materials, a step that could make the small but powerful molecules more useful in tissue engineering and drug delivery.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}