{
  "abstract": "Many fibrous biological materials combine high strength with the ability to undergo permanent shape change, a balance that remains difficult to replicate synthetically. In twisted, plywood-like architectures, the origin of irreversible deformation remains unresolved: does strain arise from covalent bond scission or from coordinated interfacial processes across hierarchical scales? Here, we use the chitin-based protective tubes of vestimentiferan deep-sea tubeworms (Siboglinidae: Vestimentifera) as a model system to address this question. By integrating multiscale simulations with experimental measurements, we show that the chitin covalent backbone resists tensile rupture and exhibits negligible fatigue under physiologically relevant loading. Instead, mechanical stress is dissipated through controlled sliding within and between chitin nanostructures as well as across chitin–protein interfaces, leading to cumulative, irreversible deformation across length scales. Covalent bond rupture of chitin, the primary load-bearing component of the tube, becomes energetically accessible only when mechanical loading acts in concert with enzyme-mediated bond cleavage. These findings establish a sliding-before-breaking principle, in which backbone stability preserves structural integrity while regulated interfacial sliding governs energy dissipation and growth. This principle provides a general framework for the design of hierarchical materials that combine fatigue resistance with adaptive deformation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Bioproducts Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada",
    "Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada",
    "Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China",
    "University of Tennessee/Oak Ridge National Laboratory Center for Molecular Biophysics, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831",
    "Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831",
    "Department of Colloid Chemistry, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Am Mühlenberg 1, Potsdam 14476, Germany",
    "Department of Wood Science, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada",
    "Department of Chemistry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 14,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Zhangmin Wan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Chris Zhou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Maëva Perez"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jian-Wen Qiu",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1541-9627"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Zihui Shen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Xin Lu",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8792-3750"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jie Wu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Shuyuan Cui"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Yan Yu",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9001-7820"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Xun Niu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Ran Bi",
      "orcid": "0009-0002-8482-4578"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Jeremy C. Smith",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2978-3227"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Simcha Srebnik"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Orlando J. Rojas",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4036-4020"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3v1xrcp796n3w.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1073/pnas.2613826123",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13624602/",
  "id": "3v1xrcp796n3w",
  "issns": [
    "0027-8424",
    "1091-6490"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2613826123",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "408"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "416"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Biological Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Biophysics and Computational Biology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Engineering"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Physical Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2502|Calcium Carbonate Crystallization and Inhibition"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214109760",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13624602",
  "pmid": "42776762",
  "published": "2026-09-23",
  "publisher": "National Academy of Sciences",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3v1xrcp796n3w.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-01T12:23:33Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13624602",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2613826123"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2502|Calcium Carbonate Crystallization and Inhibition",
      "subfield": "materials-polymers"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Sliding-before-breaking governs deformation in chitinous extracellular matrices reinforced by strong, fatigue-resistant chitin",
  "title_text": "Sliding-before-breaking governs deformation in chitinous extracellular matrices reinforced by strong, fatigue-resistant chitin",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-02T12:20:47Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3v1xrcp796n3w",
  "venue": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
  "versions": []
}