Rational Design of Nanostructures Derived from Self-Assembly of Helical Peptide Motifs

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The Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports Professor Vincent Conticello of the Department of Chemistry at Emory University for research that utilizes the structural guidelines employed in biological systems for the design and construction of non-native, nano-scale materials that display the structural specificity and the chemically and spatially unique functional group presentation of native biomolecular assemblies. This proposal describes the design and synthesis of peptide sub-units based upon a-helical structural motifs that can self-assemble into functionalized fibers and fiber networks. These can be employed as functional elements in biological systems in roles including protein-protein recognition, locomotion, signal transduction, and sensing/actuation. Professor Conticello hypothesizes that synthetic helical peptides can be created to self-assemble into functional protein fibrils that emulate and expand upon the functional roles of native protein fibrils. Chemosynthetic control of peptide sequence should facilitate introduction of the desired functionality, including non-native functionality, at specifically defined positions in the nano-structures resulting from self-assembly. These synthetic peptide modules will be employed to define the scope of the fibril self-assembly and create nano-scale scaffolds for the presentation of functional groups arranged at periodic intervals along the fibril axis, which can be ultimately articulated into functional biomimetic devices.With the support of the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program, Professor Vincent Conticello of the Department of Chemistry at Emory University is developing a research program where well-controlled assembly of helical peptides offers many opportunities for the design of unique assembled materials for nanotechnology applications. The work includes a detailed set of experimental design parameters that can be used to govern the assembly of fibrillar structures, as well as a plan for the modification of these structures with inorganic (or other) materials. The assembly of inorganic particles on these length scales is of significant research interest and marks one of the primary advantages of the marriage of biological and inorganic materials. Interesting and useful knowledge in the field will undoubtedly emerge from this research. Professor Conticello's graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will be involved in undergraduate education through a newly established Freshman Seminar series entitled "The Origins of Order." Research fellows will present their research projects to undergraduate students to provide an indication of the process through which scientific discovery occurs. Themes to be discussed in these seminars include prebiotic origins of template-directed synthesis, protein folding, hierarchical self-organization in macromolecular systems, which are broadly encompassed within the scope of his research. Graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and undergraduate students involved in this project will also contribute as active participants within the Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution (FAME). This is a jointly sponsored initiative between Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology dedicated to the investigation of evolution in a molecular context with an emphasis on applications toward the synthesis of novel molecules and materials in the laboratory.