Rheology of Dispersions of High-Aspect-Ratio Nanofibers Assembled from Elastin-Like Double-Hydrophobic Polypeptides.

ABSTRACT: Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are promising candidates for fabricating tissue-engineering scaffolds that mimic the extracellular environment of elastic tissues. We have developed a "double-hydrophobic" block ELP, GPG, inspired by non-uniform distribution of two different hydrophobic domains in natural elastin. GPG has a block sequence of (VGGVG)₅-(VPGXG)₂₅-(VGGVG)₅ that self-assembles to form nanofibers in water. Functional derivatives of GPG with appended amino acid motifs can also form nanofibers, a display of the block sequence's robust self-assembling properties. However, how the block length affects fiber formation has never been clarified. This study focuses on the synthesis and characterization of a novel ELP, GPPG, in

SUBMITTER: Sugawara-Narutaki A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6940774 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature