Morphological Control of Silk DiBlock-Copolymers

首席调查员(PI)计划设计、合成和表征一系列新的丝基两嵌段共聚物的性能。这项工作建立在最近完成的一项NSF拨款的基础上，在该拨款中，PI描述了与这一独特蛋白质家族的材料属性相关的丝蛋白生物物理特征的许多方面。这些研究洞察了丝蛋白自组装成有组织材料结构的机制行为，以及这些组装材料在各种生物材料中的应用。更广泛的影响将是计划中的研究的技术和教育。新聚合物可能会对许多特殊材料领域产生影响，并提供对自组装的基本见解。由于从蛋白质衍生的结构的设计、组装和可降解性的全水处理，预计将对绿色化学产生影响。对本科生和研究生以及相关教职员工的教育推广也将是重要的。这将通过COPIS实验室的轮换来实现，以获得完整的跨学科体验；通过工程教育外联中心(CEEO)对K-12课程的课堂影响；以及接触到广泛的本科生的机会，例如通过塔夫茨大学的暑期学者计划、NIH赞助的BREEM(工程学专业的生物医学研究经验)和NIH赞助的BEND(将工程师带入新学科)计划。在这项活动下，COPIS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单元。解决妇女和代表人数不足的少数群体的具体计划是该方案的一个综合方面。

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.