A perfectly periodic three-dimensional protein/silica mesoporous structure produced by an organism.

Zlotnikov, Igor; Werner, Peter; Blumtritt, Horst; Graff, Andreas; Dauphin, Yannicke; Zolotoyabko, Emil; Fratzl, Peter · Adv Mater · 2014

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The discovery of perfectly ordered 3D mesoporous protein/silica structure in the axial filament of the marine sponge Monorhaphis chuni is reported. The structure belongs to body-centered tetragonal symmetry system (a=9.88 nm, c=10.83 nm) and comprises interconnecting lattices of protein and silica, templated by the self-assembled, enzymatically active protein-silicatein, whose primary function is the precipitation of silica.

Medical subject headings