Biomolecular Materials: Structure, Phase Behavior, & Interactions

生物分子材料：结构、相行为、

• 批准号: 1401784
• 负责人: Cyrus Safinya
• 金额: $ 48万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Barbara
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1401784&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Biomolecular; Materials; Structure; Phase; Behavior

Nontechnical: This award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) aims at discovering and understanding the structures that form inside neurons. The protein-based skeletal structures inside nerve cells are multifunctional; for example, they give mechanical stability to neurons while at the same time enabling efficient transport of molecules (e.g. neurotransmitters) from the cell body to the synapse region, which is a critical function and enables communication between neurons. The cell free studies of this project, with carefully selected neuron-derived proteins (and variations of the proteins), will lead to the identification of protein components that assemble correct or aberrant cytoskeletal structures. The studies are important since aberration in the cytoskeleton structure invariably leads to neurodegeneration. The research team members are all involved in the educational training components of the project, through Science and Engineering internship outreach programs at the UCSB. Undergraduate students from UCSB, and summer intern undergraduates from community colleges as well as national colleges and universities participate in this program. The research team's outreach activities also extend to mentoring and providing education and research experience to teachers from local high schools.Technical: This award is to develop a scientific understanding of the out-of-equilibrium phase behavior and structures in mixtures of tubulin, microtubules, and microtubule-associated-proteins derived from neurons. The functional significance of the heterogeneous dynamical microstructures observed in different neuronal compartments (i.e. axon, cell body, and dendrites) is poorly understood. Thus, the significance of the cell free studies is that they will enable scientists to develop an understanding of how different proteins derived from neurons contribute to distinct structures observed in vivo, and how these structures enable functions including mechanical stability and facilitated transport within neurons. The project will impact several nascent fields of biomaterials, including (1) intrinsically-disordered-proteins where the studies will lead to a mechanistic understanding of the role of unstructured proteins in hierarchical assembly, and (2) non-equilibrium biomaterials where the studies are expected to discover new protein structures due to the local dissipation of energy (as it happens in cells). The project offers excellent opportunities for the educational training of students (both undergraduate and graduate) in cutting-edge structural research techniques including synchrotron small-angle-x-ray-scattering and electron microscopy at US National facilities.

非技术性：该奖项由材料研究部的生物材料项目授予加州大学圣巴巴拉分校(UCSB)，旨在发现和了解神经元内部形成的结构。神经细胞内基于蛋白质的骨架结构是多功能的；例如，它们赋予神经元机械稳定性，同时使分子(如神经递质)能够有效地从细胞体传输到突触区域，这是一种关键功能，使神经元之间能够进行通信。这个项目的无细胞研究，通过精心挑选的神经元衍生蛋白质(和蛋白质的变体)，将导致识别组装正确或异常细胞骨架结构的蛋白质成分。这项研究很重要，因为细胞骨架结构的异常总是会导致神经退化。研究团队成员都参与了该项目的教育培训部分，通过UCSB的科学和工程实习拓展计划。UCSB的本科生和社区学院以及全国高校的暑期实习生都参加了这个项目。研究小组的外展活动还延伸到指导和向当地高中教师提供教育和研究经验。技术：这个奖项是为了对来自神经元的微管、微管和微管相关蛋白混合物中的非平衡相行为和结构有一个科学的理解。在不同的神经元隔室(即轴突、细胞体和树突)观察到的不同动态微结构的功能意义尚不清楚。因此，无细胞研究的意义在于，它们将使科学家能够了解来自神经元的不同蛋白质如何对体内观察到的不同结构做出贡献，以及这些结构如何实现包括机械稳定性和促进神经元内运输在内的功能。该项目将影响生物材料的几个新领域，包括(1)内在无序蛋白质，研究将导致对非结构蛋白质在分级组装中的作用的机械理解，以及(2)非平衡生物材料，研究有望发现由于局部能量耗散而产生的新蛋白质结构(就像在细胞中发生的那样)。该项目为美国国家设施的学生(包括本科生和研究生)提供了在尖端结构研究技术方面进行教育培训的绝佳机会，包括同步加速器、小角X射线散射和电子显微镜。