Silk Wrinkles: Tuning Structural Protein Coformation for Dynamic, Responsive, Multifunctional Micropatterns

Description:

PROBLEM

Protein micropatterning and nanopatterning have long provided sophisticated strategies for a wide range of applications including biointerfaces, tissue engineering, optics/photonics, and bioelectronics. In recent years, various micro- and nanofabrication technologies have been utilized to transform a water-based suspension of silk protein into all sorts of final material formats with periodic or aperiodic micro- or nanopatterns. However, the resulting patterned structures were stable, irreversible, and largely insensitive to external stimuli. Accordingly, there remains a need for improved methods of fabricating reversible, multiresponsive protein-based micropatterns using silk fibroin as the stimuli-responsive component.

SOLUTION

The present disclosure addresses the aforementioned drawbacks by providing reversibly wrinkled silk-based compositions. The provided compositions are tunable and the reversible wrinkles are sensitive to water vapor, methanol vapor, and UV irradiation. The present disclosure also provides methods for making and using the same.

IP STATUS US Provisional Patent Application 62/824,962 filed 3/27/2019