Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, 4-10 Ag/For Building, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2P5, Canada.
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, 4-10 Ag/For Building, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2P5, Canada.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2018 Feb;107(Pt A):290-296. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.08.168. Epub 2017 Sep 15.
Protein gels with controlled viscoelastic properties could find numerous material and biomedical applications. Feather keratin is naturally abundant protein while its gelation property has not been explored. In this study hydrogel from fully reduced feather keratin was prepared by dialysis. The objectives of this work were to study the molecular mechanism of self-assembly of feather keratin gel and to characterize the structural and viscoelastic properties of hydrogels prepared under various pHs (3-9) and temperatures (50-90°C). Re-oxidation of free cysteine thiols and formation of hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bond were determined as the main stabilizing forces in self-assembly of feather keratin gel. Adding thiol blocking agent of N-ethylmaleimide leads to reduced storage modulus of keratin gel; gelation was completely inhibited at 82% blockage of free thiols. Increasing temperature decreased storage modulus, while gelation at pH 3 resulted in stiffer gels compared to pHs of 5, 7 and 9. Feather keratin gels with tunable viscoelastic properties could find applications as engineered scaffolds for different tissues.
具有可控黏弹性的蛋白质凝胶可以在许多材料和生物医学应用中找到。羽毛角蛋白是一种天然丰富的蛋白质，但其胶凝性质尚未得到探索。在这项研究中，通过透析制备了完全还原的羽毛角蛋白水凝胶。本工作的目的是研究羽毛角蛋白凝胶自组装的分子机制，并研究在各种 pH 值（3-9）和温度（50-90°C）下制备的水凝胶的结构和黏弹性特性。游离半胱氨酸巯基的再氧化以及疏水力和氢键的形成被确定为羽毛角蛋白凝胶自组装的主要稳定力。添加 N-乙基马来酰亚胺作为巯基封闭剂会导致角蛋白凝胶的储能模量降低；当游离巯基的封闭率达到 82%时，凝胶化完全被抑制。升高温度会降低储能模量，而在 pH 值为 3 时凝胶化会导致比 pH 值为 5、7 和 9 时更硬的凝胶。具有可调黏弹性的羽毛角蛋白凝胶可以作为不同组织的工程支架得到应用。
