Super-Resolution Fluorescence Imaging of Spatial Organization of Proteins and Lipids in Natural Rubber

Natural rubber (NR) with proteins and lipids has superior mechanical properties to its synthetic counterpart, polyisoprene rubber. However, it is a challenge to unravel the morphology of proteins and lipids. Here we used two-color stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) to directly visu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biomacromolecules 2017-06, Vol.18 (6), p.1705-1712
Main Authors: Wu, Jinrong, Qu, Wei, Huang, Guangsu, Wang, Siyuan, Huang, Cheng, Liu, Han
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Hevea - physiology
Humans
Latex - chemistry
Lipids - chemistry
Lipids - isolation & purification
Materials Testing
Microscopy - instrumentation
Microscopy - methods
Optical Imaging - instrumentation
Optical Imaging - methods
Plant Proteins - chemistry
Plant Proteins - isolation & purification
Polymerization
Rubber - chemistry
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Summary:Natural rubber (NR) with proteins and lipids has superior mechanical properties to its synthetic counterpart, polyisoprene rubber. However, it is a challenge to unravel the morphology of proteins and lipids. Here we used two-color stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) to directly visualize the spatial organization of proteins and lipids in NR. We found that the proteins and lipids form an interdispersed stabilizing layer on the surface of NR latex particles. After drying, the proteins and lipids form aggregates of up to 300 nm in diameter. The aggregates physically interact with the terminal groups of polyisoprene chains, leading to the formation of a network, which contributes to the high elasticity and mechanical property of NR. If we remove proteins in NR, the large phospholipid aggregates disintegrate into small ones. However, it does not decompose the network but rather reduces the effective cross-linking density, thus the deproteinized NR is still elastic-like with decreased mechanical property. Removing both proteins and lipids wholly decomposes the network, thus, results in a liquid-like behavior of the rubber. The STORM measurements in this paper enable more insight into the structure–property relationship of NR, which also shows a great potential of STORM in studying the fine structure of polymeric materials and nanocomposites.
ISSN:1525-7797
1526-4602
DOI:10.1021/acs.biomac.6b01827