Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 0C5, Canada.
Sci Rep. 2020 Aug 3;10(1):13052. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-70079-x.
Wearable pH sensors are useful tools in the healthcare and fitness industries, allowing consumers to access information related to their health in a convenient manner via the monitoring of body fluids. In this work, we tailored novel protein-textile composites to fluorescently respond to changing pH. To do so, we used amyloid curli fibers, a key component in the extracellular matrix of Escherichia coli, as genetic scaffold to fuse a pH-responsive fluorescent protein, pHuji. Engineered amyloids form macroscopic and environmentally resistant aggregates that we isolated to use as stand-alone hydrogel-based sensors, and that we trapped within textile matrices to create responsive bio-composites. We showed that these composites were mechanically robust and vapor-permeable, thus exhibiting favorable characteristics for wearable platforms. CsgA-pHuji fibers integrated in the textile allowed the final device to respond to pH changes and distinguish between alkaline and acidic solutions. We demonstrated that the resulting composites could sustain their fluorescence response over days, and that their sensing ability was reversible for at least 10 high/low pH cycles, highlighting their potential for continuous monitoring. Overall, we introduced a biosynthesized amyloid-based textile composite that could be used as biosensing patch for a variety of applications in the smart textile industry.
可穿戴 pH 传感器在医疗保健和健身行业是非常有用的工具，通过监测体液，消费者可以以方便的方式获取与其健康相关的信息。在这项工作中，我们专门设计了新型的蛋白质-纺织品复合材料，使其对 pH 值的变化产生荧光响应。为此，我们使用了细胞外基质中的一种关键成分——淀粉样卷曲纤维作为遗传支架，融合了一种对 pH 有响应的荧光蛋白 pHuji。经过工程设计的淀粉样蛋白会形成宏观且抗环境的聚集体，我们将其分离出来用作独立的水凝胶基传感器，并将其困在纺织基质中以创建响应性的生物复合材料。我们表明，这些复合材料具有机械强度和透气性，因此非常适合可穿戴平台。CsgA-pHuji 纤维集成在纺织品中，使最终设备能够响应 pH 值的变化，并区分碱性和酸性溶液。我们证明了这些复合材料可以在数天内保持其荧光响应，并且其传感能力在至少 10 次高低 pH 循环中是可逆的，这突出了它们在连续监测方面的潜力。总的来说，我们引入了一种基于生物合成淀粉样蛋白的纺织品复合材料，可作为智能纺织品行业中各种应用的生物传感贴片。
