Disordered protein-graphene oxide co-assembly and supramolecular biofabrication of functional fluidic devices

Abstract

Supramolecular chemistry offers an exciting opportunity to assemble materials with molecular precision. However, there remains an unmet need to turn molecular self-assembly into functional materials and devices. Harnessing the inherent properties of both disordered proteins and graphene oxide (GO), we report a disordered protein-GO co-assembling system that through a diffusion-reaction process and disorder-to-order transitions generates hierarchically organized materials that exhibit high stability and access to non-equilibrium on demand. We use experimental approaches and molecular dynamics simulations to describe the underlying molecular mechanism of formation and establish key rules for its design and regulation. Through rapid prototyping techniques, we demonstrate the system’s capacity to be controlled with spatio-temporal precision into well-defined capillary-like fluidic microstructures with a high level of biocompatibility and, importantly, the capacity to withstand flow. Our study presents an innovative approach to transform rational supramolecular design into functional engineering with potential widespread use in microfluidic systems and organ-on-a-chip platforms.

Nanographene oxide‐calcium phosphate to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus infection and support stem cells for bone tissue engineering

“…La et al (2013) showed that GO had promising applications in bone regeneration. In another recent study (Wu et al, 2020), an innovative coassembled ELK1‐GO system was used to exploit the functionalities of both the proteins and GO. This coassembled ELK1‐GO system enabled the multiscale organization which offered the biological materials with well‐defined tubular microstructures for biomedical applications.…”

Protein‐Engineered Functional Materials for Bioelectronics

“…In addition to SF, other proteins such as elastin‐like polypeptides, [ 34,45 ] plant protein fibrils, [ 46 ] soy protein, [ 47 ] gelatin [ 48 ] have been demonstrated as effective coassembly agents. Zhou et al.…”

News and Views

“…A new material composed of graphene oxide (GO) and protein can be used with 3-D printing to generate tissue-like vascular structures. The study, which was published in Nature Communications , 1 involved an international team that included scientists from the University of Nottingham in the UK.…”

“…The development of novel biomaterials could have countless applications and benefit many fields. Proteins are being investigated as elements of multicomponent systems, and elastin-like recombinamers (also known as recombinantly produced elastin-like polypeptides) such as the one employed in the study by Wu et al 1 have already been used to create biocompatible materials. The inclusion of graphene as a building block in the design of such biomaterials would confer them improved complexity and functionalities, given the 2-D structure and thermal and mechanical properties of graphene.…”