Phys.org March 19, 2018
Post-translational modification of proteins is a strategy widely used in biological systems which has remained largely untapped for the synthesis of biomaterials. As a proof of concept of this technique, an international team of researchers (USA – Duke University, Germany) reports the generation of a family of three stimulus-responsive hybrid materials—fatty-acid-modified elastin-like polypeptides—using a one-pot recombinant expression and post-translational lipidation methodology. The hybrid approach allows researchers to control self-assembly more precisely, which may prove useful for a variety of biomedical applications from drug delivery to wound healing… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Self-assembled structures formed by fatty-acid-modified elastin-like polypeptides (FAME). Researchers use temperature cues to make the molecules assemble themselves. Credit: Davoud Mozhdehi and Kelli Luginbuhl, Duke University