Biomass Molecular Engineering Center and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Methods Mol Biol. 2021;2347:149-165. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1574-4_14.
Gelation is an efficient way to fabricate fibrous protein materials. Briefly, it is an aggregation process where protein molecules assembly from a random structure into an organized structure such as nanofibrillar networks. According to their mechanisms, the fibrous proteins gelation can be classified into physical gelation and chemical gelation. The physical gelation is formed by the conformational transformation of fibroin proteins, which can be triggered by temperature, concentration, pH, or shear force. On the other hand, the chemical gelation is to cross-link fibrous proteins through chemical and/or enzymatic reactions. In this chapter, we summarize the protocols for preparing fibrous protein hydrogels, including both physical and chemical methods. The mechanisms of these gelation methods are also highlighted.
凝胶化是一种制备纤维状蛋白质材料的有效方法。简而言之，它是一个蛋白质分子从无规结构到有序结构（如纳米纤维网络）聚集的过程。根据其机制，纤维状蛋白质的凝胶化可分为物理凝胶化和化学凝胶化。物理凝胶化是通过丝素蛋白的构象转变形成的，这种转变可以通过温度、浓度、pH 值或剪切力来触发。另一方面，化学凝胶化是通过化学和/或酶反应交联纤维状蛋白质。本章总结了制备纤维状蛋白质水凝胶的方法，包括物理和化学方法。还强调了这些凝胶化方法的机制。
