De novo design of modular protein hydrogels with programmable intra- and extracellular viscoelasticity.

ABSTRACT: Relating the macroscopic properties of protein-based materials to their underlying component microstructure is an outstanding challenge. Here, we exploit computational design to specify the size, flexibility, and valency of de novo protein building blocks, as well as the interaction dynamics between them, to investigate how molecular parameters govern the macroscopic viscoelasticity of the resultant protein hydrogels. We construct gel systems from pairs of symmetric protein homo-oligomers, each comprising 2, 5, 24, or 120 individual protein components, that are crosslinked either physically or covalently into idealized step-growth biopolymer networks. Through rheological assessment, we find that the covalent linkage of multifunctional precursors yields hydrogels whose viscoelasticity depen

SUBMITTER: Mout R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10861882 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature