Ultrasoft microgels displaying emergent, platelet-like, behaviors

Efforts to create platelet-like structures for the augmentation of hemostasis have focused solely on recapitulating aspects of platelet adhesion 1; more complex platelet behaviors such as clot contraction 2 are assumed to be inaccessible to synthetic systems. Here, we report the creation of fully synthetic platelet-like particles (PLPs) that augment clotting in vitro under physiological flow conditions and achieve wound-triggered hemostasis and decreased bleeding times in vivo in a traumatic injury model. PLPs were synthesized by combining highly deformable microgel particles with molecular-recognition motifs identified through directed evolution. In vitro and in silico analyses demonstrate that PLPs actively collapse fibrin networks, an emergent behavior that mimics in vivo clot contraction. Mechanistically, clot collapse is intimately linked to the PLP's unique deformability and affinity for fibrin