State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130022, China.
University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 May 18;59(21):8148-8152. doi: 10.1002/anie.202002399. Epub 2020 Mar 17.
Silk-protein-based fibers have attracted considerable interest due to their low weight and extraordinary mechanical properties. Most studies on fibrous proteins focus on the recombinant spidroins, but these fibers exhibit moderate mechanical performance. Thus, the development of alternative structural proteins for the construction of robust fibers is an attractive goal. Herein, we report a class of biological fibers produced using a designed chimeric protein, which consists of the sequences of a cationic elastin-like polypeptide and a squid ring teeth protein. Remarkably, the chimeric protein fibers exhibit a breaking strength up to about 630 MPa and a corresponding toughness as high as about 130 MJ m , making them superior to many recombinant spider silks and even comparable to some native counterparts. Therefore, this strategy is a novel concept for exploring bioinspired ultrastrong protein materials through the development of new types of structural chimeric proteins.
基于丝蛋白的纤维因其重量轻和非凡的机械性能而引起了相当大的关注。大多数关于纤维蛋白的研究都集中在重组蜘蛛丝蛋白上，但这些纤维表现出中等的机械性能。因此，开发替代结构蛋白来构建坚固的纤维是一个有吸引力的目标。在此，我们报告了一类使用设计的嵌合蛋白制备的生物纤维，该嵌合蛋白由阳离子弹性蛋白样多肽序列和鱿鱼环齿蛋白序列组成。值得注意的是，嵌合蛋白纤维的断裂强度高达约 630 MPa，相应的韧性高达约 130 MJ·m ，优于许多重组蜘蛛丝，甚至可与一些天然纤维相媲美。因此，通过开发新型结构嵌合蛋白来探索仿生超强度蛋白材料，这是一种新颖的策略。
