Thermo- and ion-responsiveness of silk-elastin-like protein (SELP)

• Modeled SELPs and their folded structures using replica-exchange MD simulations under various environmental conditions; 

• Analyzed the electrostatic potential distribution of SELP and their effects on SELP's response to changes in ion concentration; 

• Constructed coarse-grained, crosslinked models of SELP to determine SELP cluster interactions that affect their responsiveness to changes in temperature and ion concentration.

Outcomes and impact: 

•  Unraveled three significant factors contributing to the responsiveness of SELP clusters: the inverse structural transition of a single SELP molecule under high temperature, geometry restraints in networks, and electrostatic interactions between molecules, which can guide design for a tunable SELP with controllable responsiveness for broader applications in biomedical engineering.

Shi, H., Ji, T., Zhai, C., Lu, J., Huang, W., & Yeo, J.† (2022). Thermo-and ion-responsive silk-elastin-like proteins and their multiscale mechanisms. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 10(32), 6133-6142. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2TB01002J Featured in: Journal of Materials Chemistry B Hot Papers