Sequence‐Specific Crosslinking of Electrospun, Elastin‐Like Protein Preserves Bioactivity and Native‐Like Mechanics

Abstract

A nanoscale mimic of the extracellular matrix is electrospun from a highly tunable family of elastin-like proteins. A sequence-specific, two-step crosslinking procedure is developed to preserve the nanofiber morphology, elastin-like mechanics, and specific bioactivity. Rodent marrow stromal cells show sequence-specific adhesion on the matrices, which are imaged using label-free coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy.