CAREER: Creating Materials via Active Self-Assembly Driven by Biomolecular Motors

该职业奖由材料研究部生物材料计划授予佛罗里达大学，旨在支持理解组装应变和非平衡结构的关键第一步的研究，这些结构显着扩展了纳米技术中的可访问设计空间。该计划的目的是表明，目前的边界自组装可以显着扩大生物分子马达。具体而言，拟议的研究将表明，生物分子马达可以：（1）加速自组装;（2）产生非平衡结构;（3）施加组装层次;（4）从纳米级构建块组装宏观结构;（5）整合合成构建块。 为此，该项目利用精心设计的实验，理论和计算机模拟相结合，以深入了解模型系统的动力学，该模型系统基于功能化微管在驱动蛋白马达涂层表面上的滑动和自组装。 使用紫杉醇稳定的和生物素化的微管作为构建块，将制备长度范围为1微米至50微米的尺寸。将在驱动蛋白包被和脂质层包被的表面上进行部分覆盖有链霉亲和素的生物素化微管的组装，以分别比较马达驱动和扩散驱动的组装。 该计划的目标是制定这些“激活”自组装过程的规则。这些见解将影响纳米结构的合成，并应用于分子电子学和自适应材料，也将大大加深我们对生物分子马达在生物材料组装中的作用的理解。 通过剖析层次组装和合成构建块的整合过程，大量独立的转运体与一组基本的相互作用规则相结合，可以组装出比单个转运体大几个数量级的复杂结构。 这代表了一种将纳米级构建块快速组装成复杂的纳米级和中尺度结构的仿生方法，该方法将自组装原理与纳米机器控制分子力的产生相结合。选择的纳米机器是生物分子发动机，它可以有效地将化学能转化为机械功。 基于细胞自动机的方法将被用来模拟系统的动力学，并组装一个软件包，提供一个通用的建模工具，分子马达为基础的自组装。 该研究项目跨越生命科学和工程之间的接口，从生物学和定量方法和工程应用中汲取灵感和材料。提出了两个创新活动，以整合研究和教学：（1）与计算机科学家合作开发一个软件程序，以可视化正在开发的实验中的热运动，这种可视化是为了提供一个更好的视图到地球。除了将系统可视化，该软件还将构建一个游戏，让玩家在一个受到热运动冲击的世界中行动;以及（2）通过国际合作和互动对本科生进行跨学科培训，这将通过德国的佛罗里达大学本科生国际研究经验计划，在PI现有合作的基础上进行扩展，瑞士，英国和日本。

This Career award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to University of Florida is to support studies in understanding the crucial first steps towards assembling strained and non-equilibrium structures which significantly expand the accessible design space in nanotechnology. The objective of the program is to show that the current boundaries of self-assemblies can be dramatically expanded by biomolecular motors. Specifically, the proposed studies will be shown that biomolecular motors can: (1) accelerate self-assembly; (2) generate non-equilibrium structures; (3) impose an assembly hierarchy; (4) assemble macroscopic structures from nanoscale building blocks; and (5) integrate synthetic building blocks. To this end, the project utilizes a carefully crafted combination of experiments, theory, and computer simulations to generate insights into the dynamics of a model system, which is based on functionalized microtubules gliding and self assembling on kinesin motor-coated surfaces. Using taxol-stabilized and biotinylated microtubules as building blocks ranging in size from 1 micrometer to 50 micrometer in length will be prepared. The assembly of biotinylated microtubules partially covered with streptavidin will be conducted on kinesin-coated and lipid layer-coated surfaces to compare motor-driven and diffusion-driven assemblies respectively. The goal of the program is to formulate the rules governing these "activated" self-assembly processes. These insights will impact the synthesis of nanostructures with applications in molecular electronics and adaptive materials, and will also dramatically further our understanding of the role of biomolecular motors in the assembly of biological materials. By dissecting the processes of hierarchical assembly and the integration of synthetic building blocks, it would be possible that a large number of independent transporters in combination with a basic set of interaction rules can assemble complex structures with sizes orders of magnitude larger than the individual transporter. This represents a biomimetic approach to the rapid assembly of nanoscale building blocks into complex nano- and mesoscale structures, which marries self-assembly principles with the controlled generation of molecular forces by nanomachines. The nanomachines of choice are biomolecular motors, which can efficiently convert chemical energy into mechanical work. A cellular automaton-based approach will be used to model the dynamics of the system, and assemble a software package to provide a general modeling tool for molecular motor-based self-assembly. The research project spans the interface between the life sciences and engineering, drawing inspirations and materials from biology and quantitative approaches and applications from engineering. Two innovative activities are proposed to integrate research and teaching: (1) Development of a software program in collaborative with computer scientists to visualize thermal motion in experiments that are being developed, and this visualization is to provide an improved view into the nanoworld. In addition to visualizing the systems, the software will build a game, which lets the player act in a nanoworld buffeted by thermal motion; and (2) Interdisciplinary training of undergraduate students through international collaborations and interactions, which will be expanded on existing collaborations of the PI through a program for international research experiences for undergraduate students at University of Florida in Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain and Japan.