Constrained Materials Synthesis Using Assembled Virus Cages

这个无机、生物无机和有机金属化学项目的奖项支持天普大学特雷弗·道格拉斯博士实验室的研究。本研究涉及豇豆褪绿斑驳病毒蛋白亚基在体外自组装成二十面体颗粒，其空腔大小为110、180、320或550埃。这些病毒笼将用于模板定向合成离散大小的氧化铁颗粒。外壳蛋白将通过位点定向诱变和化学衍生化进行修饰，通过引入组氨酸、半胱氨酸、谷氨酸、儿茶酚或磷酸基团来增强金属结合。磁铁矿或磁铁矿纳米颗粒将在原生或衍生的病毒笼中生长。纳米颗粒的结构表征将通过电子衍射和高分辨率透射电子显微镜来完成。氧化铁颗粒的大小和温度依赖的磁特性将通过SQUID磁强计和穆斯堡尔谱来检测。使用viron架构来捕获无机客体有望产生一系列离散尺寸的无机颗粒，展示出适合其使用的特性。该研究有望在磁分离、磁共振成像、微型化信息存储等领域得到应用。

This award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program supports research in the laboratories of Dr. Trevor Douglas at Temple University. The research involves the in vitro self-assembly of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus protein subunits into icosahedral particles with cavity sizes of 110, 180, 320, or 550 angstroms. These viron cages will be used for the template directed synthesis of discretely sized iron oxide particles. The coat protein will be modified, via site-directed mutagensis and chemical derivatization, to enhance metal binding by introducing histidine, cysteine, glutamic acid, catechol or phosphate moieties. Magnetite or maghemite nanoparticles will then be grown inside the native or derivative viron cage. Structural characterization of the nanoparticles will be accomplished using electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Size and temperature dependent magnetic characteristics of the iron oxide particles will be examined via SQUID magnetometry and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The use of viron architecture to entrap inorganic guests is expected to produce inorganic particles in a range of discrete sizes exhibiting properties tailored for their use. This research is expected to have applications in the fields of magnetic separation, magnetic resonance imaging, and miniaturized information storage.