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Biomimetic materials

Polymeric protagonists for biological processes

Nature Chemistry volume 15, pages 751–752 (2023)Cite this article

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Complexity is a hallmark of biological systems, but scientific experiments are typically conducted in simplified conditions. Now, diverse polymers that mimic the local environments of complex biological mixtures have been shown to improve protein folding, stability and function.

It takes a village to raise a child; does it take a village of biomolecules to make a protein? Biological fluids are notoriously complex communities of proteins, nucleic acids and nutrients that constantly interact with each other1. Yet, proteins are typically engineered in biological isolation. The isolation provided by in vitro experiments can offer biochemical precision, but optimization is difficult when the conditions fail to resemble those needed by real proteins to thrive2. Now, a research team led by Ting Xu has produced synthetic polymer solutions to replicate the complex interactions that take place in biological fluids3. These synthetic polymer solutions enhanced biological processes from protein folding to liquid–liquid phase separation, thereby demonstrating the promise of these polymers as biomimetic building blocks.

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Fig. 1: Random heteropolymers simplify protein sequences.

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  1. Twitter: @daniellejmai

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Alana P. Gudinas

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Danielle J. Mai

Authors
  1. Alana P. Gudinas
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  2. Danielle J. Mai
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Correspondence to Danielle J. Mai.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Gudinas, A.P., Mai, D.J. Polymeric protagonists for biological processes. Nat. Chem. 15, 751–752 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01219-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01219-9

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