Combinatorial Approach to Enzymatic Polymer Processing

目的是模拟自然界中木质素聚合、贻贝胶和昆虫壳硬化的反应过程。这些聚合和固化过程是由酶启动的，然后以“多米诺骨牌”的方式进行。本项目拟利用酪氨酸酶将天然酚类前体转化为活性的邻醌类，作为多糖交联剂和蛋白-多糖偶联剂。为了阐明更多的机制细节，我们设计了一个生化和机械结合的筛选程序。

The aim is to emulate the reaction processes used in nature for lignin polymerization, the setting of mussel glue, and insect shell hardening. These polymerization and curing processes are enzyme-initiated and then they progress in a "domino" fashion. In this project, it is proposed to use tyrosinase to convert natural phenolic precursors into reactive o-quinones, which can then serve as agents for polysaccharide crosslinking and protein-polysaccharide coupling. To elucidate more mechanistic details, a combined biochemical and mechanical screening program has been devised.