STRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF RUBBER-LIKE PROTEINS IN ANIMALS

Polymer networks formed from protein molecules that adopt kinetically-free, random-coil conformations are found in many animals, where they play a number of important roles. The 5 rubberlike proteins isolated and studied to date indicate that animal rubbers, like their synthetic counterparts, contain random networks which are usually stabilized by covalent crosslinks. Long-range elasticity in rubberlike proteins is based on changes in the conformational entropy of random-coil molecules. These protein networks show viscoelastic glass transitions similar to all other amorphous polymer networks.