Anisotropic Protein Organofibers Encoded With Extraordinary Mechanical Behavior for Cellular Mechanobiology Applications

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Adhesive hydrogels have been developed for wound healing applications.H owever,t heir adhesive performance is impaired dramatically due to their high swelling on wet tissues. To tackle this challenge,w ef abricated an ew type of nonswelling protein adhesive for underwater and in vivo applications.I nt his soft material, the electrostatic complexation between supercharged polypeptides with oppositely charged surfactants containing 3,4-dihydroxylphenylalanine or azobenzenemoieties playsanimportant role for the formation of ultra-strong adhesive coacervates.R emarkably,t he adhesion capability is superior to commercial cyanoacrylate when tested in ambient conditions.Moreover,the adhesion is stronger than other reported protein-based adhesives in underwater environment. The ex vivo and in vivo experiments demonstrate the persistent adhesive performance and outstanding behaviors for wound sealing and healing.

Genetically Engineered Polypeptide Adhesive Coacervates for Surgical Applications

Sun

Xiao

et al. 2021

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Improving Bioavailability of Hydrophobic Prodrugs through Supramolecular Nanocarriers Based on Recombinant Proteins for Osteosarcoma Treatment

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2021

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Supramolecular nanodrug assembly driven by supramolecular chemistry is becoming a powerful strategy for medication. The potential of engineered proteins as building blocks for nanoformulations is rarely investigated. Here, we developed a new generation of recombinant proteinbased nanodrug carriers, which is very efficient for loading and delivering the hydrophobic prodrug aldoxorubicin. Significantly enhanced anti-tumor effects in osteosarcoma (OS) models were observed. The half-life of the nanodrug reached almost two days and the corresponding bioavailability increased by 17-fold. This is significantly superior to other drug counterparts, empowering long-acting OS treatment scenarios. Importantly, off-target side effects of the prodrug, including cardiotoxicity and lung-metastasis, were greatly mitigated with our medication. Thus, our assembly strategy enables the customized design of advanced nanodelivery systems employing broader biomaterial building blocks for cancer therapy.

Biosynthetic Structural Proteins with Super Plasticity, Extraordinary Mechanical Performance, Biodegradability, Biocompatibility and Information Storage Ability

Zhao

Ren

et al. 2022

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Degradable bioplastics have attracted growing interest worldwide. However, it is challenging to develop bioplastics with a simple processing procedure, strong mechanical performance, good biocompatibility, and adjustable physicochemical properties. Herein, we introduced structural proteins as building blocks and developed a simple environmentally friendly approach to fabricate diverse protein-based plastics. A cost-effective and high-level production approach was developed through batch fermentation of Escherichia coli to produce the biomaterials. These bioplastics possess super plasticity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and high resistance to organic solvents. Their structural and mechanical properties can be precisely controlled. Besides, high density information storage and hemostatic applications were realized in the bioplastic system. The customizable bioplastics have great potential for applications in numerous fields and are capable to scale up to the industrial level.