Protease-Driven Phase Separation of Elastin-Like Polypeptides.
Biomacromolecules
; 25(8): 4898-4904, 2024 Aug 12.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38980747
ABSTRACT
Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are a promising material platform for engineering stimuli-responsive biomaterials, as ELPs undergo phase separation above a tunable transition temperature. ELPs with phase behavior that is isothermally regulated by biological stimuli remain attractive for applications in biological systems. Herein, we report protease-driven phase separation of ELPs. Protease-responsive "cleavable" ELPs comprise a hydrophobic ELP block connected to a hydrophilic ELP block by a protease cleavage site linker. The hydrophilic ELP block acts as a solubility tag for the hydrophobic ELP block, creating a temperature window in which the cleavable ELP reactant is soluble and the proteolytically generated hydrophobic ELP block is insoluble. Within this temperature window, isothermal, protease-driven phase separation occurs when a critical concentration of hydrophobic cleavage product accumulates. Furthermore, protease-driven phase separation is generalizable to four compatible protease-cleavable ELP pairings. This work presents exciting opportunities to regulate ELP phase behavior in biological systems using proteases.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Peptídeos
/
Elastina
/
Interações Hidrofóbicas e Hidrofílicas
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Biomacromolecules
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos