Professor Lorna Dougan

@DouganGroup

ERC Consolidator Fellow & EPSRC Public Engagement Champion. Physics of life, multiscale structure & mechanics of protein networks, liquids & complex fluids.

University of Leeds, UK dougan.leeds.ac.uk Joined April 2011

510 Following 1.7K Followers 3.2K Posts

Latest posts 5

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Professor Lorna Dougan @DouganGroup Sep 12, 2023

Building block aspect ratio controls assembly, architecture, and mechanics of synthetic and natural protein networks
@NatureComms

nature.com/articles/s4146…

Fibrous networks constructed from high aspect ratio protein building blocks are ubiquitous in nature. Despite this ubiquity, the functional advantage of such building blocks over globular proteins is not understood. To answer this question, we engineered hydrogel network building blocks with varying numbers of protein L domains to control the aspect ratio. The mechanical and structural properties of photochemically crosslinked protein L networks were then characterised using shear rheology and small angle neutron scattering. We show that aspect ratio is a crucial property that defines network architecture and mechanics, by shifting the formation from translationally diffusion dominated to rotationally diffusion dominated. Additionally, we demonstrate that a similar transition is observed in the model living system: fibrin blood clot networks. The functional advantages of this transition are increased mechanical strength and the rapid assembly of homogenous networks.

Professor Lorna Dougan @DouganGroup Dec 18, 2024

Well done to @AhmadBoroumand1 for presenting his work at the @BritSocRheology Mid-winter meeting in Sheffield on 'Scaling behaviour of the mechanics and mesoscale structure of folded protein hydrogels'

Professor Lorna Dougan @DouganGroup Nov 16, 2024

Nanoscale weaving: a Maker Kit to explore patterns at the nanoscale and the Atomic Force Microscope.
youtu.be/U4GUZguE47c?si…

Professor Lorna Dougan @DouganGroup Nov 13, 2024

Capturing Dynamic Assembly of Nanoscale Proteins During Network Formation

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sm…

Professor Lorna Dougan @DouganGroup Nov 8, 2024

Understanding the competition between protein unfolding and cross-linking reaction rate in protein network formation. An important tool to tune the structure and mechanics of protein based biomaterials.

Check out our new paper:
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…