title: Thermoresponsive microtubule hydrogel with high hierarchical structure.
abstract: A thermoresponsive 3D microtubule hydrogel (MT gel) was prepared by simultaneous polymerization and chemical cross-linking of tubulins. The main chain of this gel is composed of cross-linked MTs, which consists of a cylindrical assembly of tubulin covalently connected by polyethylene glycol. This gel, which contains 10 mg/mL of tubulin, exhibits a storage modulus G' as high as 1 × 10(3), which is 10 times higher than the loss modulus G'' over a wide range of frequencies. The MT gel exhibits a reversible sol-gel transition by temperature changes at 4-37 °C via depolymerization and polymerization of the MT network. Notable effects of the presence of the cross-linkage on the process of polymerization and depolymerization of tubulin were experimentally observed, and the role of the cross-linkage was discussed.
authors.affiliation: Molecular & System Life Science Unit, Advanced Science Institute, RIKEN, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken-Ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Ryuzo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Taiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tominaga
authors.forename: Hiromichi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oda
authors.forename: Kuniharu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ijiro
authors.forename: Yoshihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Osada
mesh_terms: D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D020100:Hydrogels; D008870:Microtubules; D012212:Rheology
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels