Bionanocomposites through Protein-Mediated Assembly of Nanoparticles

在化学系有机动力学项目的支持下，马萨诸塞州大学阿默斯特分校的Vincent Rotello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发挥同等作用。以前的研究使用蛋白质的纳米粒子的自组装，产生结构化的聚集体，显示控制的光学和磁性。本研究将扩展这一研究集中在自组装过程和组装材料的性能。这些性质介于块体材料和分子化合物之间，并且强烈依赖于纳米颗粒的粒度和形状。当这些材料被组装成有组织的整体时，它们获得了通常与孤立粒子完全不同的集体性质。这种集体行为高度依赖于诸如颗粒间间距和纳米复合材料形态的问题。将纳米复合材料行为与蛋白质的结构特性（包括大小、形状、氧化还原状态和结构稳定性）相结合提供了控制这种整体行为的手段。这种集体调制为生物传感器等实用技术应用以及生物复合材料设备和生物计算等更雄心勃勃的前景铺平了道路。马萨诸塞州大学阿默斯特分校的Rotello教授的这项研究是高度多学科的，具有来自化学，材料科学，物理学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受控的纳米粒子组装体，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模块。从事这项研究的研究生和本科生将获得对这些不同方法的综合理解，通过每周会议讨论研究来加强。进一步的培训以及研究的传播将通过派遣学生参加国家会议，包括材料研究学会和美国化学学会。最后，Rotello教授与José里维拉教授（U.波多黎各、里奥皮德拉斯），旨在促进少数群体研究人员在多个层面的发展。这种伙伴关系包括教授Rotello指导教师（与普遍定期审议和马萨诸塞大学之间的访问）和研究生和本科生的定期交流我们各自的群体作为扩大他们的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.