Biomimetic synthesis articles within Nature Communications

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  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Despite the enormous progress in the field of giant lipid vesicles, their use for in vivo biomedical applications is limited. Here, the authors discuss red blood cells as inspiration for enhancing those vesicles, investigating the required cellular features and the corresponding technical hurdles.

    • Jorik Waeterschoot
    • , Willemien Gosselé
    •  & Xavier Casadevall i Solvas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cis-peptide bond is rare in natural proteins and its impact on protein folding is elusive. Here the authors break the conventional understanding that cis-amide-favoring residues destabilize proteins, elucidate the principles of peptoid cis-trans isomerization in collagen folding, and showcase the use of cis-amide-favoring residues in building programmable and functional peptidomimetics.

    • Rongmao Qiu
    • , Xiaojing Li
    •  & Yang Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cellular glycosylation is complex and heterogeneous, which is challenging to reproduce synthetically. Here, the authors report on enzymatic remodelling of multivalent glycosylated bacteriophages to produce genetically encoded library of N-glycans which can be used to measure glycan-protein interactions with lectins on the surface of live cells and organs.

    • Chih-Lan Lin
    • , Mirat Sojitra
    •  & Ratmir Derda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Active targeting and cytosolic delivery of therapeutic payloads are challenging in small extracellular vesicle-based drug delivery systems. Here, the authors engineer fusogen and targeting moiety co-functionalized cell-derived nanovesicles, which can selectively bind to target cells and efficiently fulfill cytosolic delivery through membrane fusion.

    • Lixue Wang
    • , Guosheng Wang
    •  & Yuan Wan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The rapid protease degradation of peptides is currently limiting their therapeutic utility. Here, the authors report functionalised thiocarbazate scaffolds as precursors of aza-amino acids that can be integrated in peptide sequences, extending their bioavailability, and demonstrate this on FSSE/P5779 and bradykinin.

    • Ahmad Altiti
    • , Mingzhu He
    •  & Yousef Al-Abed

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this manuscript, an electric-field-assisted self-assembly technique that can allow controllable and scalable fabrication of 3-dimensional block copolymer (BCP)-based artificial cell membranes (3DBCPMs) immobilized on predefined locations is presented.

    Topographically and chemically structured microwell array templates facilitate uniform patterning of BCPs and serve as reactors for the effective growth of 3DBCPMs, which diverse shapes, sizes and stability can be tuned by modulating the BCP concentration and the amplitude/frequency of the electric field.

    The potential of 3DBCPMs for a variety of biological applications is highlighted by performance of in vitro protein-membrane assays and mimicking of human intestinal organs.

    • Dong-Hyun Kang
    • , Won Bae Han
    •  & Tae Song Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Azoles are five-membered heterocycles found in peptidic natural products and synthetic peptiodomimetics. Here the authors demonstrate a posttranslational chemical modification method for in vitro ribosomal synthesis of peptides with exotic azole groups at specific positions.

    • Haruka Tsutsumi
    • , Tomohiro Kuroda
    •  & Hiroaki Suga

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vitamin B3 derivatives display a range of biological activities. Here, the authors report the synthesis of meta-aminoaryl nicotinates, derivatives of vitamin B3, and their late-stage conjugation with (hetero)arylamines, ultimately expanding the chemical space for biomedical research.

    • Begur Vasanthkumar Varun
    • , Kannan Vaithegi
    •  & Seung Bum Park

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding how simple chemical mixtures transition into truly emergent systems is essential to create new lifelike materials. Here, the authors show a self-replicating system that can be maintained out-of-equilibrium by an oxidant fuel in analogy to simple metabolic cycles.

    • Sarah M. Morrow
    • , Ignacio Colomer
    •  & Stephen P. Fletcher

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Peptoids are promising crystallization agents, as they offer the molecular recognition capabilities of proteins and peptides but with higher stability and synthetic tunability. Here, the authors show that sequence-defined peptoids can controllably template the formation and shape evolution of gold nanostructures with defined morphologies.

    • Feng Yan
    • , Lili Liu
    •  & Chun-Long Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanomaterials that form a bioelectronic interface with cells are fascinating tools for controlling cellular behavior. Here, the authors photostimulate single cells with spiky assemblies of semiconducting quinacridone nanocrystals, whose nanoscale needles maximize electronic contact with the cells.

    • Mykhailo Sytnyk
    • , Marie Jakešová
    •  & Eric Daniel Głowacki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scientists are increasingly realising the potential for natural materials in micro- and nanofabrication. Here, the authors employ silk-based resists for aqueous multiphoton lithography towards generating intricate structures by femtosecond direct writing.

    • Yun-Lu Sun
    • , Qi Li
    •  & Hong-Bo Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    β-Peptoids are based on N-alkylated β-aminopropionic acid residues, which have been inspired by the more intensely studied peptoids and β-peptides. Here, the authors report X-ray crystal structures of oligomeric β-peptoids demonstrating secondary structures with this backbone.

    • Jonas S. Laursen
    • , Pernille Harris
    •  & Christian A. Olsen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many insects supply secretion via small tubes or pores to the end of their legs to be able to attach to a surface. Here, inspired by nature, Xue et al.fabricate adhesive pads with porous nanorod structure for oil delivery, which give rise to a 100-fold increase in adhesivity under humid conditions.

    • Longjian Xue
    • , Alexander Kovalev
    •  & Stanislav N. Gorb

  • Article |

    Many layered composites exhibit a remarkable balance of strength, toughness and stiffness. Here, the authors construct a model to explain the synergy of key mechanical properties of layered composites by considering the elastic/plastic properties of the matrix and use 3D-printed samples to validate their predictions.

    • Navid Sakhavand
    •  & Rouzbeh Shahsavari

  • Article |

    Nacre-mimetics hold great promise as high-performance, functional materials. Here, the authors use synthetic nanoclays and demonstrate tuneable mechanical properties by varying the nanoclay aspect ratio, and suggest a transparent gas barrier application.

    • Paramita Das
    • , Jani-Markus Malho
    •  & Andreas Walther

  • Article |

    Bioelectronic devices for cell electrical stimulation and nerve regeneration can be hampered by nonspecific binding of proteins and cells. Here, the authors present a membrane biomimetic conducting polymer that is cell selective, and thus may be useful in neural tissue engineering.

    • Bo Zhu
    • , Shyh-Chyang Luo
    •  & Hsiao-hua Yu

  • Article |

    Biomineralization processes have inspired the design of synthetic silica structures in vitro. Here, the authors use a living diatom to fabricate organo-silica constructs and are able to incorporate thiol moieties into the diatom frustule without the loss of nano-scale architectural features.

    • Yvonne Lang
    • , Francisco del Monte
    •  & Abhay Pandit

  • Article |

    The exploitation of the properties of graphene, such as mechanical strength and electrical conductivity, in deformable macroscopic materials is desirable. Here, a combination of graphene chemistry and ice physics is used to fabricate biomimetic, ultralight and superelastic graphene cellular monoliths.

    • Ling Qiu
    • , Jeffery Z. Liu
    •  & Dan Li

  • Article |

    Nacre is an organic–inorganic composite biomaterial, which consists of an ordered multilayer structure of crystalline calcium carbonate platelets separated by porous organic layers. Finnemoreet al. present a route to artificial nacre which mimics the natural layer-by-layer biosynthesis.

    • Alexander Finnemore
    • , Pedro Cunha
    •  & Ullrich Steiner

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