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

这一职业奖项由材料研究部生物材料项目授予佛罗里达大学，旨在支持研究人员了解组装张力和非平衡结构的关键第一步，这些结构显著扩大了纳米技术的可访问性设计空间。该计划的目标是证明生物分子马达可以极大地扩展自组装的当前边界。具体地说，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；以及(5)集成合成构建块。为此，该项目利用精心设计的实验、理论和计算机模拟的组合来生成对模型系统动力学的见解，该模型系统基于运动微管在电机涂层表面的功能微管滑动和自组装。使用紫杉醇稳定的和生物素化的微管作为构建块，长度从1微米到50微米不等。部分覆盖链霉亲和素的生物素化微管的组装将在动蛋白涂层和脂类涂层表面进行，以分别比较电机驱动和扩散驱动的组装。该计划的目标是制定管理这些“激活的”自组装过程的规则。这些见解将影响纳米结构的合成及其在分子电子学和自适应材料中的应用，并将极大地促进我们对生物分子马达在生物材料组装中的作用的理解。通过剖析分层组装和合成构建块的整合过程，大量独立的转运体与一套基本的相互作用规则相结合，将有可能组装出尺寸比单个转运体大几个数量级的复杂结构。这代表了一种仿生方法，可以将纳米级的积木快速组装成复杂的纳米和介观结构，将自组装原理与纳米机器可控地产生分子力结合在一起。选择的纳米机器是生物分子马达，可以有效地将化学能转化为机械功。基于元胞自动机的方法将被用来对系统的动力学进行建模，并组装一个软件包，为基于分子马达的自组装提供一个通用的建模工具。该研究项目横跨生命科学和工程学之间的界面，从生物学中汲取灵感和材料，从工程学中获得定量方法和应用。提出了两项创新活动来整合研究和教学：(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对纳米世界的更好的看法。除了可视化系统，该软件还将构建一款游戏，让玩家在受到热运动打击的纳米世界中行动；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、瑞士、英国和日本佛罗里达大学为本科生提供的国际研究体验计划，在PI现有合作的基础上扩大。

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.