Fabricating N-Cadherin Mimetic Peptide-Based Diverse Self-Assembled Hydrogels in the Presence of Biologically Relevant Cations

N-cadherin, a crucial extracellular matrix protein, is crucial in mediating cellular interactions and promoting cell migration. Herein, we have attempted to create N-cadherin mimetic peptide (NcMP) hydrogel scaffolds by incorporating cations as the external stimulus to create a suitable interface for favorable cellular interactions. Inspired by the Hofmeister series, we selected four biologically significant cations, classified as kosmotropes and chaotropes, and varied their concentrations to investigate how increasing ionic strength affects the self-assembly of the NcMP. Interestingly, the incorporation of these ions greatly influenced the self-assembling propensity of the Fmoc-HAVDI hydrogel, which resulted in diverse structural and mechanical properties. Such diverse physical properties led to differential cellular responses. Thus, we were able to access diverse physical and biological properties in a single gelator molecule by simply changing the nature and concentration of the biologically relevant cations. We anticipate that these diverse hydrogel systems hold great potential in various biomedical applications.