Budding-like division of all-aqueous emulsion droplets modulated by networks of protein nanofibrils.
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Authors
Ma, Qingming
Liu, Zhou
Yuan, Hao
Shum, Ho Cheung
Publication Date
2018-05-29Journal Title
Nat Commun
ISSN
2041-1723
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
2110
Language
eng
Type
Article
Physical Medium
Electronic
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Song, Y., Michaels, T., Ma, Q., Liu, Z., Yuan, H., Takayama, S., Knowles, T., & et al. (2018). Budding-like division of all-aqueous emulsion droplets modulated by networks of protein nanofibrils.. Nat Commun, 9 (1), 2110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04510-3
Abstract
Networks of natural protein nanofibrils, such as cytoskeletal filaments, control the shape and the division of cells, yet mimicking this functionality in a synthetic setting has proved challenging. Here, we demonstrate that artificial networks of protein nanofibrils can induce controlled deformation and division of all-aqueous emulsion droplets with budding-like morphologies. We show that this process is driven by the difference in the immersional wetting energy of the nanofibril network, and that both the size and the number of the daughter droplets formed during division can be controlled by modulating the fibril concentration and the chemical properties of the fibril network. Our results demonstrate a route for achieving biomimetic division with synthetic self-assembling fibrils and offer an engineered approach to regulate the morphology of protein gels.
Keywords
Water, Emulsions, Gels, Cell Shape, Nanofibers, Artificial Cells
Sponsorship
European Research Council (337969)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04510-3
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/282977
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