The human body operates using various stimuli-responsive mechanisms, dictating biological activity via reaction to external cues. Hydrogels are networked hydrophilic polymeric materials that offer the potential to recreate aqueous environments with controlled organization of biomolecules for research purposes and potential therapeutic use. The unique, programmable structure of hydrogels exhibit similar physicochemical properties to those of living tissues while also introducing component-mediated biocompatibility. The design of stimuli-responsive biocompatible hydrogels would further allow for controllable mechanical and functional properties tuned by changes in environmental factors. This study investigates individual biomolecular components needed to potentially engineer biocompatible and stimuli-responsive hydrogels. By utilizing programmable biomolecules such as nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and proteins (actin), we can achieve high component biocompatibility while progressing toward understanding the designing principles for stimuli-responsive, functional hydrogels.
