Molecular Orientation of Tropoelastin is Determined by Surface Hydrophobicity

The Assembly Mechanism and Mesoscale Architecture of Protein-Polysaccharide Complexes Formed at the Solid-liquid Interface

Protein-polysaccharide composite materials have generated much interest due to their potential use in medical science and biotechnology. A comprehensive understanding of the assembly mechanism and the mesoscale architecture is needed for fabricating protein-polysaccharide composite materials with desired properties. In this study, complex assemblies were built on silica surfaces through a layer-by-layer (LbL) approach using bovine beta-lactoglobulin variant A (βLgA) and pectin as model protein and polysaccharide, respectively. We demonstrated the combined use of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and neutron reflectometry (NR) for elucidating the assembly mechanism as well as the internal architecture of the protein-polysaccharide complexes formed at the solid-liquid interface. Our results show that βLgA and pectin interacted with each other and formed a cohesive matrix structure at the interface consisting of intertwined pectin chains that were cross-linked by βLgA-rich domains. Although the complexes were fabricated in an LbL fashion, the complexes appeared to be relatively homogeneous with βLgA and pectin molecules spatially distributed within the matrix structure. Our results also demonstrate that the density of βLgA-pectin complex assemblies increased with both the overall and local charge density of pectin molecules. Therefore, the physical properties of the protein-polysaccharide matrix structure, including density and level of hydration, can be tuned by using polysaccharides with varying charge patterns, thus promoting the development of composite materials with desired properties.

Drying mediated orientation and assembly structure of amphiphilic Janus particles

Amphiphilic Janus particles demonstrate unique assembly structures when dried on a hydrophilic substrate. Particle orientations are influenced by amphiphilicity and Janus balance. A three-stage model is developed to describe the process. Simulation further indicates the dominant force is capillary attraction due to the interface pinning at rough Janus boundaries.

Recombinant Technology in the Development of Materials and Systems for Soft-Tissue Repair

The field of biomedicine is constantly investing significant research efforts in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that govern the function of body compartments and to develop creative solutions for the repair and regeneration of damaged tissues. The main overall goal is to develop relatively simple systems that are able to mimic naturally occurring constructs and can therefore be used in regenerative medicine. Recombinant technology, which is widely used to obtain new tailored synthetic genes that express polymeric protein-based structures, now offers a broad range of advantages for that purpose by permitting the tuning of biological and mechanical properties depending on the intended application while simultaneously ensuring adequate biocompatibility and biodegradability of the scaffold formed by the polymers. This Progress Report is focused on recombinant protein-based materials that resemble naturally occurring proteins of interest for use in soft tissue repair. An overview of recombinant biomaterials derived from elastin, silk, collagen and resilin is given, along with a description of their characteristics and suggested applications. Current endeavors in this field are continuously providing more-improved materials in comparison with conventional ones. As such, a great effort is being made to put these materials through clinical trials in order to favor their future use.

Elastin degradation by cathepsin V requires two exosites

Cathepsin V is a highly effective elastase and has been implicated in physiological and pathological extracellular matrix degradation. However, its mechanism of action remains elusive. Whereas human cathepsin V exhibits a potent elastolytic activity, the structurally homologous cathepsin L, which shares a 78% amino acid sequence, has only a minimal proteolytic activity toward insoluble elastin. This suggests that there are distinct structural domains that play an important role in elastinolysis. In this study, a total of 11 chimeras of cathepsins V and L were generated to identify elastin-binding domains in cathepsin V. Evaluation of these chimeras revealed two exosites contributing to the elastolytic activity of cathepsin V that are distant from the active cleft of the protease and are located in surface loop regions. Replacement of exosite 1 or 2 with analogous residues from cathepsin L led to a 75 and 43% loss in the elastolytic activity, respectively. Replacement of both exosites yielded a non-elastase variant similar to that of cathepsin L. Identification of these exosites may contribute to the design of inhibitors that will only affect the elastolytic activity of cysteine cathepsins without interfering with other physiological protease functions.

Surface and adsorption characteristics of three elastin-like polypeptide coatings with varying sequence lengths

The surface properties of a family of elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs), differing in molecular weight and sequence length, were investigated to understand how the nature of the polypeptide film might contribute to their thrombogenic profile. Physical adsorption of the ELPs onto Mylar increased surface wettability as the sequence length decreased while X-ray spectroscopy analysis showed an increasing amide content with sequence length. Chemical force microscopy analysis revealed that the ELP-coated surfaces displayed purely hydrophilic adhesion forces that increased as the ELP sequence length decreased. Adsorption isotherms performed using the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation, showed that the surface coverage increased with ELP sequence length. The longer polypeptides (ELP2 and ELP4) also displayed higher specific dissipation values indicating that they established films with greater structural flexibility and associated water content than the shorter polypeptide, ELP1. Additionally, the stability of the ELP coating was lower with the shorter polypeptides. This study highlights the different surface properties of the ELP coatings as well as the dynamic nature of the ELP adsorbed layer wherein the conformational state may be an important factor contributing to their blood response.