Work

Ordering recombinant silk-elastin-like nanofibers on the microscale

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Self-assembled peptide/polypeptide nanofibers are appealing building blocks for creating complex three-dimensional structures. However, ordering assembled peptide/polypeptide nanofibers into three-dimensional structures on the microscale remains challenging and often requires the employment of top-down approaches. We report that silk-elastin-like protein polymers self-assemble into nanofibers in physiologically relevant conditions, the assembled nanofibers further form fiber clusters on the microscale, and the nanofiber clusters eventually coalesce into three-dimensional structures with distinct nanoscale and microscale features. It is believed that the interplay between fiber growth and molecular diffusion leads to the ordering of the assembled silk-elastin-like nanofibers at the microscale.

Source: Applied Physics Letters

DOI: 10.1063/1.4863077

Authors: Like Zeng, Weibing Teng, Linan Jiang, Joseph Cappello, Xiaoyi Wu

Institutions: University of Arizona, BIO5 Institute

Language: English

Topic: Supramolecular Self-Assembly in Materials

Subfield: Biomaterials

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation

Awards: Microsystem-based Formation of Recombinant Protein Fibers, Assembly Mechanism of Recombinant Proteins, Protein-cell assemblies as tissue-mimics