Abstract
Natural and synthetic polypeptides have been proposed to be utilized as nano building blocks for biomolecular materials due to their unique mechanical properties, such as spring or shock absorber behaviors. Chemical linkages are commonly employed due to their strong covalent bonds to assemble these building blocks. However, biomaterials composed of these building blocks randomly associated by chemical linkages, typically lose the original mechanical properties of their molecular framework. Here, we have created two dimensional (2D) bio-nano structures by using tetrameric streptavidin as a biological cross-linker, and directly measured the strength of streptavidin tetramers with the AFM. The strength of this biological linkage is capable of maintaining naturally cross-assembled 2D nanostructures, with the measured lowest unbinding force of ∼ 400 pN at loading rates of ∼10 nN/s. We reveal mechanically one of the strongest non-covalent biological linkages in nature, making streptavidin a strong potential structural nano-hub for hierarchical biomolecular-based materials. (This work is supported by NIH).
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