Background Adaptive materials—materials able to change their properties based on certain stimuli—can provide valuable modes of actuation for many applications. Development of these materials has derived much inspiration from muscle tissue, which is robust and adaptable owing to its inherent hierarchical structure, from molecules to proteins...

The extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway is a major component of the MAPK signaling pathway, and its activation plays an important role in cell growth, proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Thus, dysfunction in the ERK pathway may contribute to numerous diseases including cancer, diabetes, inflammation, autoimmunity and so on....