Fabrication of fluorescent pH-responsive protein-textile composites.

ABSTRACT: Wearable pH sensors are useful tools in the healthcare and fitness industries, allowing consumers to access information related to their health in a convenient manner via the monitoring of body fluids. In this work, we tailored novel protein-textile composites to fluorescently respond to changing pH. To do so, we used amyloid curli fibers, a key component in the extracellular matrix of Escherichia coli, as genetic scaffold to fuse a pH-responsive fluorescent protein, pHuji. Engineered amyloids form macroscopic and environmentally resistant aggregates that we isolated to use as stand-alone hydrogel-based sensors, and that we trapped within textile matrices to create responsive bio-composites. We showed that these composites were mechanically robust and vapor-permeable, thus exhibiting favor

SUBMITTER: Saldanha DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7400762 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature