CAREER: Proteins Containing Non-natural Amino Acids as Building Blocks for Novel Materials

该项目的重点是生物聚合物材料在材料科学和生物学中的应用工程。 自然界经常使用精确控制大分子结构来赋予功能;核酸和蛋白质等天然分子的精致信息存储，分级组装和催化性能长期以来一直受到聚合物化学家的赞赏。 尽管在聚合物的化学合成方面有许多进展，但没有合成方法提供通过体内方法产生蛋白质聚合物所提供的序列和结构控制。 此外，蛋白质工程的重要进展已经使非天然氨基酸在体内多位点掺入蛋白质成为可能，这显著扩展了遗传定向方法的化学通用性。 该研究计划利用生物合成的结构和序列控制，结合非天然氨基酸的新化学功能，创造具有特殊结构控制的新聚合物材料。 特定的目标包括受控呈现的基团，如在传感器，生物材料和纳米技术中的应用，肽，或电活性部分。该研究计划的高度跨学科性质将为研究环境中的培训提供多样化的机会，该计划中的研究概念也将融入材料科学与工程课程，如聚合物合成和先进生物材料。 融入本科课程将包括生物技术研究和专题讨论小组的实施。除了在大学一级的这些教育贡献，一个新的外展计划，艺术的科学，将在地区高中实施。 这些科学和教学计划的结合将成为材料研究和教育创新贡献的基础。

This project focuses on the engineering of biopolymeric materials for application in materials science and biology. Nature regularly uses precise control of macromolecular structure to impart function; the exquisite information storage, hierarchical assembly, and catalytic properties of natural molecules such as nucleic acids and proteins have long been admired by the polymer chemist. Despite the many advances in the chemical synthesis of polymers, no synthetic method offers the sequence and structural control afforded by protein polymer production by in vivo methods. Additionally, important advances in protein engineering have made possible the multisite incorporation of non-natural amino acids into proteins in vivo, which markedly expands the chemical versatility of genetically directed methods. This research program capitalizes on the structural and sequence control of biosynthesis, combined with the novel chemical function of non-natural amino acids, to create new polymeric materials with exceptional architectural control. Specific targets include the controlled presentation of groups such as saccharides, peptides, or electroactive moieties for applications in sensors, biomaterials, and nanotechnology. The highly interdisciplinary nature of this research program will provide diverse opportunities for training in the research environment, and research concepts in this program will also be integrated into the materials science and engineering curriculum in courses such as polymer synthesis and advanced biomaterials. Integration into undergraduate programs will include the implementation of biotechnology research and special topics discussion groups. In addition to these educational contributions at the university level, a novel outreach program, The Science of Art, will be implemented at a regional high school. The combination of these scientific and instructional programs will be the basis of innovative contributions to materials research and education.