title: A self-assembly pathway to aligned monodomain gels.
abstract: Aggregates of charged amphiphilic molecules have been found to access a structure at elevated temperature that templates alignment of supramolecular fibrils over macroscopic scales. The thermal pathway leads to a lamellar plaque structure with fibrous texture that breaks on cooling into large arrays of aligned nanoscale fibres and forms a strongly birefringent liquid. By manually dragging this liquid crystal from a pipette onto salty media, it is possible to extend this alignment over centimetres in noodle-shaped viscoelastic strings. Using this approach, the solution of supramolecular filaments can be mixed with cells at physiological temperatures to form monodomain gels of aligned cells and filaments. The nature of the self-assembly process and its biocompatibility would allow formation of cellular wires in situ that have any length and customized peptide compositions for use in biological applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Shuming
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Megan A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Greenfield
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mata
authors.forename: Liam C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: Ronit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bitton
authors.forename: Jason R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mantei
authors.forename: Conrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aparicio
authors.forename: Monica Olvera
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: de la Cruz
authors.forename: Samuel I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Stupp
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D002122:Calcium Chloride / Q000737:chemistry; D003460:Crystallization; D005782:Gels; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D050866:Liquid Crystals; D008422:Materials Testing; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005782:Gels; D010455:Peptides; D002122:Calcium Chloride