EAGER: Collaborative Research: Mimicking mussel adhesion with periodically sequenced polypeptides

1506539（Tu）/ 1508717（Waite）拟议的工作强调了生物粘附的发现，这有可能在许多技术中产生“深远的影响”。 此外，产生大量无毒仿生粘合剂的能力在STEM教育中具有很好的潜力，可以开发简单的演示，让学生参与基础科学问题以及材料工程。此外，CCNY是一个少数民族服务机构，拟议的跨学科工作是理想的参与学生在高中，本科和研究生水平。 PI在哈莱姆地区的学校建立了一个科学教师“社区”，在那里，地区教师可以在夏季和学年期间与高中学生在研究实验室一起工作。综上所述，拟议的工作既可以扩大参与当地的干社区，以及导致在粘附和界面科学community.Marine贻贝使用的儿茶酚氨基酸3，4-二羟基苯丙氨酸（多巴）贻贝脚蛋白介导强大的湿粘附在湍流潮间带的显着影响。该EAGER提案的目的是定量探索富含多巴的多肽中高保真序列周期性对涂层和粘附动力学的作用。此外，PI提出了一种非生物合成方案，用于合成具有低多分散性的高分子量周期序列，使我们能够合成大规模廉价的聚合物。我们的方法是基于运输限制缩聚反应的应用程序来定义的周期性和多分散性。随后，PI建议将涂层动力学和粘附功作为序列参数的函数进行量化。他们将使用开发的合成方案来精确控制多巴/脯氨酸频率的作用和肽的空间分布。该研究团队在合成方法和表征工具方面都建立了专业知识，但拟议的工作旨在获得EAGER资金，因为将聚合物规模的合成工具和仿生粘附结合的愿景未经测试，并且涉及完全不同的方法。

1506539 (Tu) / 1508717 (Waite)The proposed work emphasizes discoveries in bioadhesion, which has the potential to have "far reaching effects" in a number of technologies. Moreover, the ability to generate a significant quantity of a non-toxic biomimetic adhesive has excellent potential for STEM education, where simple demonstrations can be developed to engage students in fundamental science questions as well as the engineering of materials. Additionally, CCNY is a Minority Serving Institution, and the proposed interdisciplinary work is ideal for engaging students at the high-school, undergraduate and graduate levels. The PI has developed a "community" of science teachers at Harlem area schools, where area teachers can work together with high school students in the research lab during the summer and school year. Taken together, the proposed work can both broaden participation in the local STEM community as well as lead to a significant impact in the adhesion and interfacial science community.Marine mussels use the catecholic amino acid 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (Dopa) in mussel foot proteins to mediate robust wet adhesion in the turbulent intertidal zone. The objective of this EAGER proposal is to quantitatively explore the role of high fidelity sequence periodicity in Dopa-rich polypeptide on the dynamics of coating and adhesion. Moreover, the PIs propose a nonbiological synthetic protocol for the synthesis of a high molecular weight periodic sequence with a low polydispersity, allowing us to synthesize bulk-scale inexpensive polymer. Our approach is based on the application of a transport-limited polycondensation reaction to define both the periodicity and the polydispersity. Subsequently, the PIs propose to quantify the coating dynamics and work of adhesion as a function of the sequence parameters. They will use developed synthetic protocols to precisely control the role of Dopa/proline frequency and the spatial distribution of peptides. This research team has established expertise in both the synthetic methods and the characterization tools, but the proposed work aims at EAGER funding because the vision of marrying polymer-scale synthetic tools and biomimetic adhesion is untested and involves a radically different approach.