Fusion of two unrelated protein domains in a chimera protein and its 3D prediction: Justification of the x-ray reference structures as a prediction benchmark.

Proteins are naturally formed by domains edging their functional and structural properties. A domain out of the context of an entire protein can retain its structure and to some extent also function on its own. These properties rationalize construction of artificial fusion multidomain proteins with unique combination of various functions. Information on the specific functional and structural characteristics of individual domains in the context of new artificial fusion proteins is inevitably encoded in sequential order of composing domains defining their mutual spatial positions. So the challenges in designing new proteins with new domain combinations lie dominantly in structure/function prediction and its context dependency. Despite the enormous body of publications on artificial fusion proteins, the task of their structure/function prediction is complex and nontrivial. The degree of spatial freedom facilitated by a linker between domains and their mutual orientation driven by noncovalent interactions is beyond a simple and straightforward methodology to predict their structure with reasonable accuracy. In the presented manuscript, we tested methodology using available modeling tools and computational methods. We show that the process and methodology of such prediction are not straightforward and must be done with care even when recently introduced AlphaFold II is used. We also addressed a question of benchmarking standards for prediction of multidomain protein structures-x-ray or Nuclear Magnetic Resonance experiments. On the study of six two-domain protein chimeras as well as their composing domains and their x-ray structures selected from PDB, we conclude that the major obstacle for justified prediction is inappropriate sampling of the conformational space by the explored methods. On the other hands, we can still address particular steps of the methodology and improve the process of chimera proteins prediction.

Fatigue properties of UFG Ti grade 2 dental implant vs. conventionally tested smooth specimens.

Complicated geometry in combination with surface treatment strongly deteriorates fatigue resistance of metallic dental implants. Mechanical properties of pure Ti grade 2, usually used for dental implant production, were shown to be significantly improved due to intensive grain refinement via Conform SPD. The increase of the tensile strength properties was accompanied by a significant increase in the fatigue resistance and fatigue endurance limit. However, the SLA treatment usually used for the implants' surface roughening, resulted in the fatigue properties and endurance limit decrease, while this effect was more pronounced for the ultrafine-grained comparing to the coarse-grained material when tested under tensile-tensile loading mode. The testing of the implants is usually provided under the bending mode. Even though different testing condition for the conventional specimens tests and implants testing was adopted, a numerical study revealed their comparable fatigue properties. The fatigue limit determined for the implants was 105% higher than the one for coarse-grained and only by 4 % lower than the one for ultrafine-grained Ti grade 2. Based on the obtained results, conventional specimens testing can be used for the prediction of the fatigue limit of the implants.

Influence of sandblasting and acid etching on fatigue properties of ultra-fine grained Ti grade 4 for dental implants.

Commercially pure Ti is a typical material for dental implants. Besides oral environmental effects, implants are seriously mechanically loaded during the lifetime. Mechanical resistance of coarse and ultra-fine grained Ti grade 4 was investigated. Significant grain size refinement resulting in the 65% increase of the proof stress is reported. The fatigue endurance limit increased from 523 MPa to 698 MPa due to grain refinement. The influence of sandblasting combined with acid etching on fatigue damage of both material states was analyzed. The surface treatment was proven as detrimental to the fatigue properties of both material states, due to reduction of the fatigue initiation stage. Nevertheless, the fatigue endurance limit of the surface-treated ultra-fine grained material remained higher than the fatigue endurance limit of the coarse-grained material without surface treatment. Reported results confirm better mechanical resistance of ultra-fine grained materials for dental implants in the comparison with coarse-grain one.

Continuous Production of Pure Titanium with Ultrafine to Nanocrystalline Microstructure.

This work deals with the application of the Conform SPD (Severe Plastic Deformation) continuous extrusion process for ultrafine to nanostructured pure titanium production. The process has been derived from the Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) technique but, unlike ECAP, it offers continuous production of high-strength wire. This study describes the Conform SPD process combined with subsequent cold working (rotary swaging technique), its potential for commercial application, and the properties of high-strength wires of pure titanium. High-strength wire of titanium Grade 4 is the product. Titanium Grade 4 reaches ultimate strengths up to 1320 MPa. This value is more than twice the ultimate strength of the unprocessed material. The typical grain size upon processing ranges from 200 to 500 nm. Process development supported by FEM analysis together with detailed microstructure characterization accompanied by mechanical properties investigation is presented.