Bionanocomposites through Protein-Mediated Assembly of Nanoparticles

在化学系有机动力学项目的支持下，马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校的文森特·罗特洛教授将为蛋白质介导的纳米颗粒组装开发强大而通用的策略，其中蛋白质和颗粒在组装和材料特性方面扮演着同等的角色。以前关于利用蛋白质自组装纳米颗粒的研究，产生了具有可控光学和磁性的结构聚集体。这项研究将扩展这一研究，关注自组装过程和组装材料的性质。这些性质介于块状材料和分子化合物之间，强烈依赖于纳米颗粒的大小和形状。当组装成有组织的整体时，这些材料获得的集体性质往往与孤立的粒子有很大不同。这种集体行为高度依赖于颗粒间距和纳米复合材料形态等问题。将纳米复合行为与蛋白质的结构属性(包括大小、形状、氧化还原状态和结构稳定性)相结合，为控制这种整体行为提供了一种手段。这种集体调制为生物传感器等实用技术应用铺平了道路，也为生物复合设备和生物计算等更具雄心的前景铺平了道路。这项由马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校的罗特洛教授进行的研究是高度多学科的，采用了化学、材料科学、物理和生物学领域的工具和技术。纳米科学研究的主要目标之一是制备可控的纳米颗粒组装，为生物传感器、开关和高密度磁存储阵列等设备提供有用的构建块。从事这项研究的研究生和本科生将通过每周一次的会议讨论研究，获得对这些不同方法的综合理解。将派遣学生参加包括材料研究学会和美国化学学会在内的国家会议，以提供进一步的培训和传播研究成果。最后，罗特洛教授与何塞·里维拉教授(波多黎各大学、里约热内卢大学)建立了多模式伙伴关系，旨在促进少数民族研究人员在多个层面上的发展。这种伙伴关系包括由罗特洛教授进行教师指导(普遍定期审议和马萨诸塞州大学之间的访问)，以及我们各自小组之间定期交换研究生和本科生，以此作为扩大其科学和文化教育的工具。

With the support of the Organic Dynamics Program in the Chemistry Division, Professor Vincent Rotello at the University of Massachusetts- Amherst will develop robust and versatile strategies for the protein-mediated assembly of nanoparticles in which the protein and the particle play equal roles in terms of both assembly and materials properties. Previous studies on the self-assembly of nanoparticles using proteins, produced structured aggregates that displayed controlled optical and magnetic properties. This research will extend this study focusing on both the self-assembly process and the properties of the assembled materials. These properties are intermediate between bulk material and molecular compounds and strongly depend on the particle size and the shape of the nanoparticles. When assembled into organized ensembles, these materials gain collective properties that are often quite different from the isolated particles. This collective behavior is highly dependent on issues such as interparticle spacing and nanocomposite morphology. Combining nanocomposite behavior with the structural properties of proteins including size, shape, redox state, and structural stability provides a means to control this ensemble behavior. This collective modulation paves the way for pragmatic technological applications such as biosensors, as well as more ambitious prospects such as biocomposite devices and biological computing.This research by Professor Rotello at the University of Massachusetts- Amherst is highly multidisciplinary featuring tools and techniques from the fields of chemistry, materials science, physics, and biology. One of the primary goals of nanoscience research is the preparation of controlled assemblies of nanoparticles, providing useful building blocks for devices such as biosensors, switches and high-density magnetic storage arrays. The graduate and undergraduate students working on this research will gain an integrated understanding of these diverse methodologies, enhanced through weekly meetings to discuss research. Further training as well as dissemination of research will be provided by sending the students to National Meetings including the Materials Research Society and the American Chemical Society. Finally, Professor Rotello has developed a multimodal partnership with Professor José Rivera (U. Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras) designed to enhance the development of minority researchers at many levels. This partnership includes faculty mentoring by Professor Rotello (with visits between UPR and UMass) and the regular exchange of graduate and undergraduate students between our respective groups as a tool for broadening their scientific and cultural education.