Synthetic Transient Crosslinks Program the Mechanics of Soft, Biopolymer-Based Materials.

ABSTRACT: Actin networks are adaptive materials enabling dynamic and static functions of living cells. A central element for tuning their underlying structural and mechanical properties is the ability to reversibly connect, i.e., transiently crosslink, filaments within the networks. Natural crosslinkers, however, vary across many parameters. Therefore, systematically studying the impact of their fundamental properties like size and binding strength is unfeasible since their structural parameters cannot be independently tuned. Herein, this problem is circumvented by employing a modular strategy to construct purely synthetic actin crosslinkers from DNA and peptides. These crosslinkers mimic both intuitive and noncanonical mechanical properties of their natural counterparts. By isolating binding affini

SUBMITTER: Lorenz JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5878933 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature