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New Production Methods for Manufacturing Nanofibers from Exotic Materials

Extracellular matrix scaffolding of tissues and organs is often comprised of 3D architectures of protein nanofibers. Inspired by the architecture of ECM, we have been working to develop new methods for developing ECM-like nanofibrous textiles. We have designed systems to mimic the shear-induced unfolding of protein polymers in order to form fibers, a process called Fibrillogenesis. We have used fibronectin protein as a test of our shear induced manufacturing process. Fibronectin is a globular protein with a beta sheet domain that allows it a unique functionality. The partial unfolding of FN exposes cryptic binding domains and promotes self polymerization. Polymerization is then induced at the N-terminus of the extended FN molecule causing non-covalently bound FN-FN fibrils. We are working to mimic this fibrillogenesis in acellular systems in an effort to build novel, bioinspired textiles from proteins such as fibronectin, collagen, and silk. Adaptations of our system, an adaptation of a cotton candy machine, have allowed us to make nanofibers in bulk from materials ranging from alginate to Kevlar. I will review our preliminary results in nanofiber-based textiles.

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