Trends in the design and use of elastin-like recombinamers as biomaterials

Abstract

Elastin-like recombinamers (ELRs), which derive from one of the repetitive domains found in natural elastin, have been intensively studied in the last few years from several points of view. In this mini review, we discuss all the recent works related to the investigation of ELRs, starting with those that define these polypeptides as model intrinsically disordered proteins or regions (IDPs or IDRs) and its relevance for some biomedical applications. Furthermore, we summarize the current knowledge on the development of drug, vaccine and gene delivery systems based on ELRs, while also emphasizing the multiple tissue engineering approaches involving their use. Finally, we show different studies that explore applications in other fields, and several examples that 2 describe biomaterial blends in which ELRs have a key role. This review aims to give an overview of the recent advances regarding ELRs and to encourage further investigation of their properties and applications.

Fabricating Organized Elastin in Vascular Grafts

“…ELRs are synthesized using recombinant DNA technology and can contain multiple elastin domains to confer complexity and functionality similar to elastin [56]. ELRs self-assemble through various mechanisms and, with the incorporation of a cell adhesion motif such as Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD), allow for rapid EC attachment and formation of an endothelium [50,57].…”

Recent developments in sustainably sourced protein-based biomaterials

“…Recombinant technology provides an alternative method to produce proteins that are not naturally available in abundant quantities, as well as to modify the properties of these recombinant proteins, for example, by adding other bioactive molecules, growth factors, cell-binding domains, or other direct chemical modifications [33,34]. There are many successful reports of using of recombinant proteins to develop protein-based biomaterials; however, issues relating to low yield and scalability hinder their widespread commercial adoption [35][36][37].…”

Recent Advances in Elastin-Based Biomaterials

“…The basic structure of elastin-like recombinamers (ELRs) involves a repeating sequence based on the recurring steps found in the mammalian elastin (106), drawn on a heterologous host (mainly Escherichia coli) (107,108). The biosynthesis of any artificial protein generally includes: (1) the building of a synthetic gene that encodes the protein of interest in a plasmid; (2) the cloning of a recombinant gene with the necessary transcriptional regulatory elements into competent cells; (3) the screening of plasmids containing the desired clones and verification of their DNA sequence; (4) transformation of the chosen plasmids into expression competent host microorganism; (5) the growth of appropriate volumes of host microorganism and induction of protein expression; and (6) purification of the protein of interest from host lysates (109).…”