Morphological Control of Silk DiBlock-Copolymers

CBET-0828028大卫L卡普兰，塔夫茨大学智力价值的主要研究者（PI）计划设计，合成，并表征一个新的家庭的丝绸为基础的二嵌段共聚物的性能。这项工作建立在最近完成的NSF资助的基础上，其中PI描述了与这种独特蛋白质家族的材料特性相关的丝蛋白生物物理特征的许多方面。这些研究提供了深入了解丝蛋白自组装成有组织材料结构的机械行为，以及这些组装材料的各种生物材料应用。更广泛的影响计划研究的更广泛影响将是技术和教育两方面的。新聚合物可能会在许多专业材料领域产生影响，并为自组装提供基本见解。由于蛋白质衍生结构的设计、组装和降解性中的全水处理，预期对绿色化学的影响。对本科生和研究生以及相关教师的教育推广也将是重要的。这将通过coPI实验室的实验室轮换来实现，以获得完整的跨学科经验;通过工程教育外展中心（CEEO）运行的K-12课程的课堂影响;和机会，从事广泛的本科生，如通过夏季学者，美国国立卫生研究院赞助的BREEM（工程专业的生物医学研究经验）和美国国立卫生研究院赞助的弯曲（将工程师引入新的学科）计划在塔夫茨大学。在这项活动下，coPI将为新的工程生物学课程和生物物理学课程开发新的课程模块。解决妇女和代表性不足的少数民族问题的具体计划是该方案的一个组成部分。

CBET-0828028David L Kaplan, Tufts UniversityIntellectual merit The Principal Investigators (PIs) plan to design, synthesize, and characterize the properties of a new family of silk-based diblock copolymers. This work builds on a recently completed NSF grant, in which the PIs have described many aspects of silk-protein biophysical features related to material properties for this unique family of proteins. These studies provided insight into the mechanistic behavior of silk protein self-assembly into organized material structures, as well as various biomaterial applications for these assembled materials.Broader impacts The broader impact of the planned studies will be both technical and educational.The new polymers may have impact in many areas of specialty materials as well as providing fundamental insight into self-assembly. Impact on green chemistry is anticipated due to the all aqueous processing in the designs, assembly, and degradability of the structures derived from the proteins. Educational outreach for undergraduate and graduate students as well as the faculty involved will also be significant. This will be realized via laboratory rotations in the labs of the coPIs to gain a complete interdisciplinary experience; classroom impact for K-12 programs run through the Center for Engineering Education Outreach (CEEO); and opportunities to engage a wide range of undergraduate students, such as through the Summer Scholars, NIH-sponsored BREEM (Biomedical Research Experiences for Engineering Majors) and NIH-sponsored BEND (Bringing Engineers into New Disciplines) programs at Tufts. The coPIs will develop new course modules for both the new Engineering Biology Course and the Biophysics Course under this activity. Specific plans to address Women and Underrepresented Minorities are an integrated aspect of the program.