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A thermoresponsive 3D microtubule hydrogel (MT gel) was prepared by simultaneous polymerization and chemical cross-linking of tubulins. The main chain of this gel is composed of cross-linked MTs, which consists of a cylindrical assembly of tubulin covalently connected by polyethylene glycol. This gel, which contains 10 mg/mL of tubulin, exhibits a storage modulus G' as high as 1 × 10(3), which is 10 times higher than the loss modulus G'' over a wide range of frequencies. The MT gel exhibits a reversible sol-gel transition by temperature changes at 4-37 °C via depolymerization and polymerization of the MT network. Notable effects of the presence of the cross-linkage on the process of polymerization and depolymerization of tubulin were experimentally observed, and the role of the cross-linkage was discussed.

A supramolecular triad consisting of self-assembled imidazolyl-zinc-porphyrin dimer, ferrocene, and fullerene was successfully constructed, resulting in long-lived charge separated species after efficient photoinduced electron transfer and charge shift reactions.

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