Protein materials applications

Thus, based on material applications, the following polymers are important natural rubber, coal, asphaltenes (bitumens), cellulose, chitin, starch, lignin, humus, shellac, amber, and certain proteins. Figure 4 shows the primary structures of some of the above polymers. For detailed information on their occurrence, conventional utilization, etc., refer to the references cited previously. 

Application of ethylene-,4C to plants resulted in only a 2.4% conversion into soluble carbohydrates, 11% into ether-soluble materials, 6.9% into phytol, 31.7% into cellulose and lignin, and 9.6% into soluble protein and non-protein material, mainly phosphates. 9 Treatment of detached fruit (such as apples, bananas, peaches, figs, and pears) with synthetic auxins, especially (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy) acetic acid, speeded up ripening, as indicated by color, taste, softness, and starch breakdown. 7 Other fruits have been similarly ripened, 8 and the treatments are effective both on climacteric and non-climacteric fruit. 

Since the introduction of HPLC in the field of protein analysis, this technique has become very popular because of its versatility. The development of improved or new packing materials has often resulted in a decrease in the analysis time. However, with regard to the analysis of food proteins, the application of HPLC has remained limited mainly to wheat proteins and milk proteins. A quick survey of recent literature confirms this observation, and most publications about the... 

Recognition of a specific amino acid sequence from a protein or a specific tag peptide sequence is expected to lead to variety of medical and materials applications. Whereas the recognition of a single amino acid residue by synthetic hosts has been reported previously, the artificial recognition of a sequence of two or more amino acid residues has been quite limited. There are only a few reports on the... 

The deposition of thin polymeric films from a cold plasma in a radio-frequency glow discharge apparatus has become an important means of modifying surfaces in materials applications [42], Applications receiving much attention recently have been the use of plasma polymerization to obtain biocompatible materials, and to produce functional surfaces for attachment of biologically active substances [43-45]. In this respect, many studies of protein adsorption have been... 

Biopolymers are polymers formed in nature during the growth cycles of all organisms hence, they are also referred to as natural polymers. The biopolymers of interest in this review are those that serve in nature as either structural or reserve cellular materials. Their syntheses always involve enzyme-catalyzed, chain-growth polymerization reactions of activated monomers, which are generally formed within the cells by complex metabolic processes. The most prevalent structural and reserve biopolymers are the polysaccharides, of which many different types exist, but several other more limited types of polymers exist in nature which serve these roles and are of particular interest for materials applications. The latter include the polyesters and proteins produced by bacteria and the hydrocarbon elastomers produced by plants (e.g. natural rubber). In almost all cases (natural rubber is an exception), all of the repeating units of these biopolymers contain one or more chiral centers and the repeating units are always present in optically pure form that is, biopolymers with asymmetric centers are always 100% isotactic. 

Van den Ouweland, G.A.M. L. Schutte. Flavor problems in the application of soy protein materials as meat substitutes. Flavor of Foods and Beverages G. Charlambous, G.E. Inglett, Eds. Academic Press Inc. New York, 1978 p. 33. 

A major research trend is to tailor the structure of proteins and polypeptides so they can function for a wide range of advanced material applications. In their paper, Kiick et al (5) described their work in using biosynthetic routes to produce polypeptides with non-natural amino acids that have desired conformation and side-chain placement. Montclare et al (6) described novel research on elastins where the aim is to generate new biomaterials that have the desired biological activity, optimal function in delivery of therapeutics, and more applications. 

D.A. Tirrell, MJ. Fournier, XL. Mason, Protein engineering for materials applications, Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 1 (1991) 638-641. 

Since the proteinoid materials and results highly resemble those of natural proteins, many applications would be in modeling natural proteins, cells, and membranes in which we may change at will the composition of constituent amino adds and then monitor the behavior of the polymers. Additionally, the quantum chemical calculations of molecular orbitals of such polymers may be performed and the resultant picture may be easier to... 

As introduced in Chapter 1, the present chapter constitutes Assertion 4 The Applications Assertion of the book. Production and purification are first addressed, as they obviously make up the initial enabling steps in moving toward applications of any materials. The most surefooted path toward materials applications of protein-based polymers, however, intertwines issues of production and purification through a combination of the two methods of preparation—chemical synthesis and biosynthesis. Chemical synthesis proved the biocompatibility of elastic protein-based polymers and therefore opened the door to medical applications. Demonstration of the biocompatibility of the chemically synthesized product made clear the purification required of elastic protein-based polymers produced by E. coli if unlimited medical applications were to be possible. Chemical synthesis also provided a faster route to diverse polymer compositions, which allowed... 

The materials applications addressed here are but a limited sampling of what we have done and but a preliminary sampling of that which will be forthcoming in the protein-based materials industry of the future. 

Some proteins were studied for a long time for their materials applications soy protein/ wheat gluten and collagen (the denatured form being called gelatine). In all the cases, the stahilily of the proteins and their sensitivity to moisture require strengthening by plasticization, com-patibilization, cross-linkage or production of protein-nanoclay composites. ... 

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