Ordering recombinant silk-elastin-like nanofibers on the microscale.
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ABSTRACT: Self-assembled peptide/polypeptide nanofibers are appealing building blocks for creating complex three-dimensional structures. However, ordering assembled peptide/polypeptide nanofibers into three-dimensional structures on the microscale remains challenging and often requires the employment of top-down approaches. We report that silk-elastin-like protein polymers self-assemble into nanofibers in physiologically relevant conditions, the assembled nanofibers further form fiber clusters on the microscale, and the nanofiber clusters eventually coalesce into three-dimensional structures with distinct nanoscale and microscale features. It is believed that the interplay between fiber growth and molecular diffusion leads to the ordering of the assembled silk-elastin-like nanofibers at the microscale.
SUBMITTER: Zeng L
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3977850 | biostudies-other | 2014 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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