Cappello J, Crissman J, Dorman M, Mikolajczak M, Textor G, Marquet M, Ferrari F
Protein Polymer Technologies, Inc., San Diego, California 92121.
Biotechnol Prog. 1990 May-Jun;6(3):198-202. doi: 10.1021/bp00003a006.
Genetic and protein engineering are components of a new polymer chemistry that provide the tools for producing macromolecular polyamide copolymers of diversity and precision far beyond the current capabilities of synthetic polymer chemistry. The genetic machinery allows molecular control of chemical and physical chain properties. Nature utilizes this control to formulate protein polymers into materials with extraordinary mechanical properties, such as the strength and toughness of silk and the elasticity and resilience of mammalian elastin. The properties of these materials have been attributed to the presence of short repeating oligopeptide sequences contained in the proteins, fibroin, and elastin. We have produced homoblock protein polymers consisting exclusively of silk-like crystalline blocks and elastin-like flexible blocks. We have demonstrated that each homoblock polymer as produced by microbial fermentation exhibits measurable properties of crystallinity and elasticity. Additionally, we have produced alternating block copolymers of various amounts of silk-like and elastin-like blocks, ranging from a ratio of 1:4 to 2:1, respectively. The crystallinity of each copolymer varies with the amount of crystalline block interruptions. The production of fiber materials with custom-engineered mechanical properties is a potential outcome of this technology.
基因工程和蛋白质工程是一种新型聚合物化学的组成部分，它们为生产具有多样性和精确性的大分子聚酰胺共聚物提供了工具，这种多样性和精确性远远超出了目前合成聚合物化学的能力范围。基因机制允许对化学和物理链性质进行分子控制。自然界利用这种控制将蛋白质聚合物制成具有非凡机械性能的材料，如丝绸的强度和韧性以及哺乳动物弹性蛋白的弹性和回弹性。这些材料的性能归因于蛋白质、丝心蛋白和弹性蛋白中所含的短重复寡肽序列。我们已经生产出了仅由类丝晶体嵌段和类弹性蛋白柔性嵌段组成的均聚物蛋白聚合物。我们已经证明，通过微生物发酵生产的每种均聚物聚合物都表现出可测量的结晶度和弹性性能。此外，我们还生产了不同比例的类丝和类弹性蛋白嵌段的交替嵌段共聚物，比例分别从1:4到2:1不等。每种共聚物的结晶度随结晶嵌段中断的数量而变化。利用这项技术有可能生产出具有定制工程机械性能的纤维材料。
