Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph , Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
Biomacromolecules. 2014 Feb 10;15(2):574-81. doi: 10.1021/bm401600a. Epub 2014 Jan 28.
Hagfish slime threads were recently established as a promising biomimetic model for efforts to produce ecofriendly alternatives to petroleum polymers. Initial attempts to make fibers from solubilized slime thread proteins fell short of achieving the outstanding mechanics of native slime threads. Here we tested the hypothesis that the high strength and toughness of slime threads arise from the ability of constituent intermediate filaments to undergo a stress-induced α-to-β transition. To do this, we made fibers from human vimentin proteins that were first allowed to self-assemble into 10 nm intermediate filaments. Fibers made from assembled vimentin hydrogels underwent an α-to-β transition when strained and exhibited improved mechanical performance. Our data demonstrate that it is possible to make materials from intermediate filament hydrogels and that mimicking the secondary structure of native hagfish slime threads using intermediate filament self-assembly is a promising strategy for improving the mechanical performance of biomimetic protein materials.
七鳃鳗黏丝最近被确立为一种很有前途的仿生模型，可用于开发环保型石油聚合物替代品。最初尝试从溶解的黏丝蛋白中制造纤维，未能达到天然黏丝的出色力学性能。在这里，我们检验了一个假设，即黏丝的高强度和韧性源于组成中间丝的纤维在受到应力时能够发生α-到-β-转变。为此，我们首先使人类波形蛋白蛋白自行组装成 10nm 的中间丝，然后用其制造纤维。由组装的波形蛋白水凝胶制成的纤维在受力时发生α-到-β-转变，并表现出改善的机械性能。我们的数据表明，有可能用中间丝水凝胶来制造材料，并且使用中间丝自组装来模拟天然七鳃鳗黏丝的二级结构是改善仿生蛋白材料机械性能的一种很有前途的策略。
