IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v11y2020i1d10.1038_s41467-020-14709-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Hierarchically-structured metalloprotein composite coatings biofabricated from co-existing condensed liquid phases

Author

Listed:
  • Franziska Jehle

    (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces)

  • Elena Macías-Sánchez

    (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces)

  • Sanja Sviben

    (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces)

  • Peter Fratzl

    (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces)

  • Luca Bertinetti

    (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces)

  • Matthew J. Harrington

    (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
    McGill University)

Abstract

Complex hierarchical structure governs emergent properties in biopolymeric materials; yet, the material processing involved remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the multi-scale structure and composition of the mussel byssus cuticle before, during and after formation to gain insight into the processing of this hard, yet extensible metal cross-linked protein composite. Our findings reveal that the granular substructure crucial to the cuticle’s function as a wear-resistant coating of an extensible polymer fiber is pre-organized in condensed liquid phase secretory vesicles. These are phase-separated into DOPA-rich proto-granules enveloped in a sulfur-rich proto-matrix which fuses during secretion, forming the sub-structure of the cuticle. Metal ions are added subsequently in a site-specific way, with iron contained in the sulfur-rich matrix and vanadium coordinated by DOPA-catechol in the granule. We posit that this hierarchical structure self-organizes via phase separation of specific amphiphilic proteins within secretory vesicles, resulting in a meso-scale structuring that governs cuticle function.

Suggested Citation

  • Franziska Jehle & Elena Macías-Sánchez & Sanja Sviben & Peter Fratzl & Luca Bertinetti & Matthew J. Harrington, 2020. "Hierarchically-structured metalloprotein composite coatings biofabricated from co-existing condensed liquid phases," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-14709-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14709-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14709-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-020-14709-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chongrui Zhang & Xufei Liu & Jiang Gong & Qiang Zhao, 2023. "Liquid sculpture and curing of bio-inspired polyelectrolyte aqueous two-phase systems," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-14709-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.