ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal
This is a page describing data taken during an experiment at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source. Information about the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source can be found at https://www.isis.stfc.ac.uk.
Uncovering scaling laws for force labile proteins to enable the design of smart biomaterials
Abstract: Protein hydrogels are a relatively new type of biomaterial known for providing interesting viscoelastic properties, including mimicking mechanical properties of human cartilage and built-in biological functionality. In this new study we focus on determining if colloidal or polymeric scaling laws can be used to describe a protein gel network which is built from a force labile, mechanically compliant protein building block. It has been hypothesized that the coil-like unfolded proteins occupy the intercluster region thereby contributing positively to the mechanics of the gels. We propose to use SANS to investigate the network structure of photochemically crosslinked force labile Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) hydrogels at varying protein volume fraction (?). We will interrogate the data utilising our previously described fractal structure model to extract key structural parameters such as correlation lengths and fractal dimensions of fractal protein clusters, to examine how these clusters vary in size, shape, and density as a function of ? crucial to determine the scaling laws (useful for gel design) and mesh size (useful for drug delivery).
Principal Investigator: Professor Lorna Dougan
Experimenter: Miss Dimitra Katrantzi
Local Contact: Dr Najet Mahmoudi
Experimenter: Dr Matthew Hughes
Experimenter: Mr Ahmad Boroumand
DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2500030
ISIS Experiment Number: RB2500030
| Part DOI | Instrument | Public release date | Download Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2500030-1 | SANS2D | 20 May 2028 | Download |
Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source
Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation
The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research
publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher],
[doi]
For Example:
Professor Lorna Dougan et al; (2025): Uncovering scaling laws for force labile proteins to enable the design of smart biomaterials, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2500030
Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.
