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| Title | Water-regulated viscosity-plasticity phase transitions in a peptide self-assembled muscle-like hydrogel. |
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| Journal, issue, pages | Nat Commun, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Page 1058, Year 2025 |
| Publish date | Jan 26, 2025 |
Authors | Yu Fang / Junhui Shi / Juan Liang / Dan Ma / Huaimin Wang / ![]() |
| PubMed Abstract | The self-assembly of small molecules through non-covalent interactions is an emerging and promising strategy for building dynamic, stable, and large-scale structures. One remaining challenge is ...The self-assembly of small molecules through non-covalent interactions is an emerging and promising strategy for building dynamic, stable, and large-scale structures. One remaining challenge is making the non-covalent interactions occur in the ideal positions to generate strength comparable to that of covalent bonds. This work shows that small molecule YAWF can self-assemble into a liquid-crystal hydrogel (LCH), the mechanical properties of which could be controlled by water. LCH can be used to construct stable solid threads with a length of over 1 meter by applying an external force on 2 µL of gel solution followed by water-regulated crystallization. These solid threads can support 250 times their weight. Cryogenic electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) analysis unravels the three-dimensional structure of the liquid-crystal fiber (elongated helix with C2 symmetry) at an atomic resolution. The multiscale mechanics of this material depend on the specificity of the molecular structure, and the water-controlled hierarchical and sophisticated self-assembly. |
External links | Nat Commun / PubMed:39865087 / PubMed Central |
| Methods | EM (helical sym.) |
| Resolution | 3.1 Å |
| Structure data | EMDB-60234, PDB-8zm0: |
| Source |
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Keywords | DE NOVO PROTEIN / A chemically synthesized peptide that can be self-assembled into nanofiber |
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