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Updated: Jul 23, 2026

Multi-Scale Modification of Metallic Implants With Pore Gradients, Polyelectrolytes and Their Indirect Monitoring In vivo
Published on: July 1, 2013
Photocrosslinkable triple helical protein with enhanced higher-order formation for biomaterial applications
Gopalan Akilandeswari1, Vijayakumar Varshashankari1, Shalini Muthusamy1,2
1Division of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil nadu, India.
Abstract:
Bacterial collagen, produced via recombinant DNA methods, offers advantages including consistent purity, customizable properties, and reduced allergy potential compared to animal-derived collagen. Its controlled production environment enables tailored features, making it more sustainable, non-pathogenic, and compatible with diverse applications in medicine, cosmetics, and other industries. Research has focused on the engineering of collagen-like proteins to improve their structure and function. The study explores the impact of introducing tyrosine, an amino acid known for its role in fibril formation across diverse proteins, into a newly designed bacterial collagen-like protein (Scl2), specifically examining its effect on self-assembly and fibril formation. Biophysical analyses reveal that the introduction of tyrosine residues didn't compromise the protein's structural stability but rather promoted self-assembly, resulting in the creation of nanofibrils-a phenomenon absent in the native Scl2 protein. Additionally, stable hydrogels are formed when the engineered protein undergoes di-tyrosine crosslinking under light exposure. The hydrogels, shown to support cell viability, also facilitate accelerated wound healing in mouse fibroblast (NIH/3T3) cells. These outcomes demonstrate that the targeted inclusion of functional residues in collagen-like proteins enhances fibril formation and facilitates the generation of robust hydrogels using riboflavin chemistry, presenting promising paths for research in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
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