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Capezza AJ, Mezzenga R. Proteins for Applied and Functional Materials. Biomacromolecules 2024; 25:4615-4618. [PMID: 39023162 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.4c00884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
Shifting from a petroleum-based plastic society to a newer one built on circular economy principles requires maximizing the use of renewable resources and resolving the challenges that come with their use. Biopolymers have taken an important role in the design of biobased materials with functional properties, especially those derived from biomass available at a large scale. A number of recent studies have shown how proteins have a new dimension in developing functional materials, taking a step forward from their traditional use in food and biomedicine. Correlating the amino acidic profile of proteins at the nanoscale with their thermomechanical properties at the macroscale enables us to translate these precision polymers into a versatile design of materials, targeting large-scale applications such as foams and food packaging. Moreover, the advances in understanding proteins from a bottom-up perspective reached promising achievements for their use in applications that were not foreseen before, including biosensors, optoelectronics, and semiconductors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio J Capezza
- Fibre and Polymer Technology Department, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 56, Stockholm, SE-10044, Sweden
| | - Raffaele Mezzenga
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
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Saran R, Klein M, Sharma B, Loke JJ, Perrin QM, Miserez A. Proton conductivity of the protein-based velvet worm slime. iScience 2024; 27:110216. [PMID: 39055923 PMCID: PMC11269932 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2024] [Revised: 05/16/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The properties of complex bodily fluids are linked to their biological functions through natural selection. Velvet worms capture their prey by ensnaring them with a proteinaceous fluid (slime). We examined the electrical conductivity of slime and found that dry slime is an insulator. However, its conductivity can increase by up to 106 times in its hydrated state, which can be further increased by an order in magnitude under acidic hydration (pH ≈ 2.3). The transient current measured using ion-blocking electrodes showed a continuous decay for up to 7 h, revealing slime's nature as a proton conducting material. Slime undergoes a spontaneous fibrilization process producing high aspect ratio ≈ 105 fibers that exhibit an average conductivity ≈2.4 ± 1.1 mS cm-1. These findings enhance our understanding of slime as a natural biopolymer and provide molecular-level guidelines to rationally design biomaterials that may be employed as hygroscopic conductors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rinku Saran
- Biological and Biomimetic Material Laboratory, Centre for Sustainable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
| | - Maciej Klein
- Centre for Disruptive Photonic Technologies, The Photonic Institute, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637371, Singapore
- Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637371, Singapore
| | - Bhargy Sharma
- Biological and Biomimetic Material Laboratory, Centre for Sustainable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
| | - Jun Jie Loke
- Biological and Biomimetic Material Laboratory, Centre for Sustainable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
| | - Quentin Moana Perrin
- Biological and Biomimetic Material Laboratory, Centre for Sustainable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
| | - Ali Miserez
- Biological and Biomimetic Material Laboratory, Centre for Sustainable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637551, Singapore
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Ramanthrikkovil Variyam A, Stolov M, Feng J, Amdursky N. Solid-State Molecular Protonics Devices of Solid-Supported Biological Membranes Reveal the Mechanism of Long-Range Lateral Proton Transport. ACS NANO 2024; 18:5101-5112. [PMID: 38314693 PMCID: PMC10867892 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c11990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 01/27/2024] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Lateral proton transport (PT) on the surface of biological membranes is a fundamental biochemical process in the bioenergetics of living cells, but a lack of available experimental techniques has resulted in a limited understanding of its mechanism. Here, we present a molecular protonics experimental approach to investigate lateral PT across membranes by measuring long-range (70 μm) lateral proton conduction via a few layers of lipid bilayers in a solid-state-like environment, i.e., without having bulk water surrounding the membrane. This configuration enables us to focus on lateral proton conduction across the surface of the membrane while decoupling it from bulk water. Hence, by controlling the relative humidity of the environment, we can directly explore the role of water in the lateral PT process. We show that proton conduction is dependent on the number of water molecules and their structure and on membrane composition, where we explore the role of the headgroup, the tail saturation, the membrane phase, and membrane fluidity. The measured PT as a function of temperature shows an inverse temperature dependency, which we explain by the desorption and adsorption of water molecules into the solid membrane platform. We explain our findings by discussing the role of percolating hydrogen bonding within the membrane structure in a Grotthuss-like mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mikhail Stolov
- Wolfson
Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion
− Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
| | - Jiajun Feng
- Schulich
Faculty of Chemistry, Technion −
Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
| | - Nadav Amdursky
- Schulich
Faculty of Chemistry, Technion −
Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
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Orieshyna A, Puetzer JL, Amdursky N. Proton Transport Across Collagen Fibrils and Scaffolds: The Role of Hydroxyproline. Biomacromolecules 2023; 24:4653-4662. [PMID: 37656903 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/03/2023]
Abstract
Collagen is one of the most studied proteins due to its fundamental role in creating fibrillar structures and supporting tissues in our bodies. Accordingly, collagen is also one of the most used proteins for making tissue-engineered scaffolds for various types of tissues. To date, the high abundance of hydroxyproline (Hyp) within collagen is commonly ascribed to the structure and stability of collagen. Here, we hypothesize a new role for the presence of Hyp within collagen, which is to support proton transport (PT) across collagen fibrils. For this purpose, we explore here three different collagen-based hydrogels: the first is prepared by the self-assembly of natural collagen fibrils, and the second and third are based on covalently linking between collagen via either a self-coupling method or with an additional cross-linker. Following the formation of the hydrogel, we introduce here a two-step reaction, involving (1) attaching methanesulfonyl to the -OH group of Hyp, followed by (2) removing the methanesulfonyl, thus reverting Hyp to proline (Pro). We explore the PT efficiency at each step of the reaction using electrical measurements and show that adding the methanesulfonyl group vastly enhances PT, while reverting Hyp to Pro significantly reduces PT efficiency (compared with the initial point) with different efficiencies for the various collagen-based hydrogels. The role of Hyp in supporting the PT can assist in our understanding of the physiological roles of collagen. Furthermore, the capacity to modulate conductivity across collagen is very important to the use of collagen in regenerative medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Orieshyna
- Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
| | - Jennifer L Puetzer
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23220, United States
| | - Nadav Amdursky
- Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
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Wang L, Lin X, Li J, Yang H, Feng X, Wan C. Konjac Glucomannan Aerogels Modified by Hydrophilic Isocyanate and Expandable Graphite with Excellent Hydrolysis Resistance, Mechanical Strength, and Flame Retardancy. Biomacromolecules 2023. [PMID: 37141322 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
At present, biomass foamlike materials are a hot research topic, but they need to be improved urgently due to their defects such as large size shrinkage rate, poor mechanical strength, and easy hydrolysis. In this study, the novel konjac glucomannan (KGM) composite aerogels modified with hydrophilic isocyanate and expandable graphite were prepared by a facile vacuum freeze-drying method. Compared with the unmodified KGM aerogel, the volume shrinkage of the KGM composite aerogel (KPU-EG) decreased from 36.36 ± 2.47% to 8.64 ± 1.46%. Additionally, the compressive strength increased by 450%, and the secondary repeated compressive strength increased by 1476%. After soaking in water for 28 days, mass retention after hydrolysis of the KPU-EG aerogel increased from 51.26 ± 2.33% to more than 85%. The UL-94 vertical combustion test showed that the KPU-EG aerogel can achieve a V-0 rating, and the limiting oxygen index (LOI) value of the modified aerogel can reach up to 67.3 ± 1.5%. To sum up, the cross-linking modification of hydrophilic isocyanate can significantly improve the mechanical properties, flame retardancy, and hydrolysis resistance of KGM aerogels. We believe that this work can provide excellent hydrolytic resistance and mechanical properties and has broad application prospects in practical packaging, heat insulation, sewage treatment, and other aspects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linsheng Wang
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Xiang Lin
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Jiajia Li
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Hongyu Yang
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Xiaming Feng
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Chaojun Wan
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
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