Work

Genetic control of morphological transitions in a coacervating protein template

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Nature routinely exploits liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of proteins to control the assembly and mineralization of hybrid materials. Here, we show that fusion of the Car9 silica-binding peptide to an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) yields temperature- and sequence-programmable soft matter templates for the synthesis of silicified architectures ranging in size from nanometers to micrometers. Specifically, we demonstrate unprecedented control over the diameter of silica nanoparticles (SiNP) in the 30-60 nm range with 4 nm precision, show that a single arginine residue (R4) in the Car9 sequence underpins the transition from micelles to proteinosomes, and find that substitutions in other basic residues modulate electrostatic repulsion and solvation to enable access to kinetically trapped species. These structures, which include interconnected micelles, small (∼200 nm) and large (>5 µm) vesicles, are readily visualized by SEM imaging following silicification. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and AlphaFold predictions reveal that mutations in positively charged residues alter interfacial packing, hydration, and conformational freedom of the silica-binding segments. Overall, our results establish sequence and thermal energy as synergistic levers for morphological control across length scales using solid-binding ELPs and establish mineralization as a powerful tool to visualize the structure of dynamic soft matter assemblies.

Source: Soft Matter

DOI: 10.1039/d5sm01047k

Authors: William C. Wixson, Nada Y. Naser, Aditya Sonpal, Jim Pfaendtner, François Baneyx

Institutions: University of Washington, North Carolina State University

Language: English

Topic: Diatoms and Algae Research

Subfield: Biomaterials

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid