Hughes, M. orcid.org/0000-0001-5838-7939, Cussons, S. orcid.org/0000-0002-9318-3859, Hanson, B. orcid.org/0000-0002-6079-4506 et al. (7 more authors) (2023) Building Block Aspect Ratio Controls Assembly, Architecture, and Mechanics of Synthetic and Natural Protein Networks. Nature Communications, 14. 5593. ISSN 2041-1723
Abstract
Fibrous networks constructed from high aspect ratio protein building blocks are ubiquitous in nature. Despite this ubiquity, the functional advantage of such building blocks over globular proteins is not understood. To answer this question, we engineered hydrogel network building blocks with varying numbers of protein L domains to control the aspect ratio. The mechanical and structural properties of photochemically crosslinked protein L networks were then characterised using shear rheology and small angle neutron scattering. We show that aspect ratio is a crucial property that defines network architecture and mechanics, by shifting the formation from translationally diffusion dominated to rotationally diffusion dominated. Additionally, we demonstrate that a similar transition is observed in the model living system: fibrin blood clot networks. The functional advantages of this transition are increased mechanical strength and the rapid assembly of homogenous networks above a critical protein concentration, crucial for in vivo biological processes such as blood clotting. In addition, manipulating aspect ratio also provides a parameter in the design of future bio-mimetic and bio-inspired materials.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Molecular & Nanoscale Physics |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EU - European Union EP/X023524/1 EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/P02288X/1 EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/V035460/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 06 Sep 2023 11:30 |
Last Modified: | 22 Jan 2025 12:14 |
Published Version: | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-40921-7 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Research |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41467-023-40921-7 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:203049 |