Bioinspired Modular Synthesis of Elastin-Mimic Polymers To Probe the Mechanism of Elastin Elasticity

摘要

Elastin is an important extracellular matrix protein conferringnelasticity to tissues and organs.1 The native elastin isolated fromnanimal tissues has two domains, the repeating hydrophobic domainnand the alanine-rich cross-linking region.1 It is widely acceptednthat the hydrophobic domain contributes to the elasticity of elastin.2nBecause of its remarkable elasticity1 and stimuli-responsive properties,n3 recently elastin and elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) have beennactively pursued as biomaterials for various biomedical applications4nincluding protein purification,4 drug delivery,5 and tissue engineering.n6 For many applications, it is critical to develop efficient andnscalable synthesis for ELPs.4,7,8 Herein we report a bioinspirednmodular synthesis of elastin-mimic polymers (EMPs) via “click”npolymerization (Figure 1).