Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Fang J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3983047 | biostudies-literature | 2013
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Nature communications 20130101
Protein-based hydrogels usually do not exhibit high stretchability or toughness, significantly limiting the scope of their potential biomedical applications. Here we report the engineering of a chemically cross-linked, highly elastic and tough protein hydrogel using a mechanically extremely labile, de novo-designed protein that assumes the classical ferredoxin-like fold structure. Due to the low mechanical stability of the ferredoxin-like fold structure, swelling of hydrogels causes a significan ...[more]