Efforts to engineer new materials inspired by biological structures are hampered by the lack of genomic data from many model organisms studied in biomimetic research. Here we show that biomimetic engineering can be accelerated by integrating high-throughput RNA-seq with proteomics and advanced materials characterization. This approach can be applied to a broad range of systems, as we illustrate by investigating diverse high-performance biological materials involved in embryo protection, adhesion and predation. In one example, we rapidly engineer recombinant squid sucker ring teeth proteins into a range of structural and functional materials, including nanopatterned surfaces and photo-cross-linked films that exceed the mechanical properties of most natural and synthetic polymers. Integrating RNA-seq with proteomics and materials science facilitates the molecular characterization of natural materials and the effective translation of their molecular designs into a wide range of bio-inspired materials.

The robust, proteinaceous egg capsules of marine prosobranch gastropods (genus Busycotypus) exhibit unique biomechanical properties such as high elastic strain recovery and elastic energy dissipation capability. Capsule material possesses long-range extensibility that is fully recoverable and is the result of a secondary structure phase transition from α-helix to extended β-sheet rather than of entropic (rubber) elasticity. We report here the characterization of the precursor proteins that make up this material. Three different proteins have been purified and analyzed, and complete protein sequences deduced from messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) transcripts. Circular dichroism (CD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra indicate that the proteins are strongly α-helical in solution and primary sequence analysis suggests that these proteins have a propensity to form coiled-coils. This is in agreement with previous wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) and solid-state Raman spectroscopic analysis of mature egg capsules.

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Numerous indole alkaloids such as the iboga‐ and aspidosperma‐type are believed to be biosynthesized via a common hypothetical intermediate, dehydrosecodine. The highly reactive nature of dehydrosecodine‐type compounds has hampered their isolation and structural elucidation. In this study, we achieved the first X‐ray structural determination of a dehydrosecodine‐type compound by integrating synthetic optimization of the reactivity and stabilizing the fragile molecule by encapsulation into a supramolecular host. Formation of a 1 : 1 complex of the dehydrosecodine‐type labile guest bearing both vinyl indole and dihydropyridine units with the host was observed. This integrated approach not only provides insights into the biosynthetic conversions but also allows stabilization and storage of the reactive and otherwise short‐lived intermediate within the confined hydrophobic cavity.

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