Bioinspired and Mechanically Strong Fibers Based on Engineered Non‐Spider Chimeric Proteins

Abstract

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−3, 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.

Reversibly Photo‐Modulating Mechanical Stiffness and Toughness of Bioengineered Protein Fibers

“…The fabrication of photo‐switchable bioengineered protein‐surfactant fibers consists of two crucial components: a cationic supercharged polypeptide ( SUP ) forming the structural basis of the fiber material and an anionic sulfonated surfactant containing an azobenzene moiety ( Azo ) (Figure 1 A). The SUPs are derived from natural elastin and were expressed recombinantly in E. coli [40–44] . The high net charge of SUP s is encoded in the pentapeptide repeat unit (VPGKG) n in which the fourth position is consisting of a lysine residue (K).…”

“…TheSUPs are derived from natural elastin and were expressed recombinantly in E. coli. [40][41][42][43][44] Theh igh net charge of SUPsi se ncoded in the pentapeptide repeat unit (VPGKG) n in which the fourth position is consisting of al ysine residue (K). Regarding the SUP used for fiber fabrication, we chose K108cys that contains two cysteines at the N-and C-terminus,r espectively.T he digit of K108cys denotes the number of positive charges along the polypeptide backbone ( Figure S1-S3, Table S1).…”

Spidroin‐Inspired, High‐Strength, Loofah‐Shaped Protein Fiber for Capturing Uranium from Seawater

“…On the basis of biomimetic spinning technology, some researchers have merely prepared artificial spider silk protein fibers by recombining the gene fragments of different spider silk proteins, which makes the practical application of spider silk fibers possible . However, there are rare reports on the combination of other functional proteins, except for the spidroin or fibroin, for large‐scale fabrication of high strength protein fiber materials with practical applications . Herein, a novel chimeric protein (DSUP) containing two copies of SUP was constructed (Figure B) and spun into loofah‐shape protein fiber with high mechanical strength.…”

Anisotropic Protein Organofibers Encoded With Extraordinary Mechanical Behavior for Cellular Mechanobiology Applications

“…However, those gel fibers show inferior mechanical properties, such as low fracture toughness, modulus, and strength (Table 1). A combination of supramolecular networks and slidable domains can be integrated into the systems for mechanical improvements [10–13] . Yet there has a major concern of dehydration in the soft materials, leading to brittle and fragile outputs and hampering their practical applications.…”