NMR-Based Approaches for Investigating Protein-Surface Interactions

该项目的总体目标是确定蛋白质如何与纳米颗粒表面相互作用的机制。从工程蛋白功能化纳米颗粒（NPs）到防止海洋生物附着在船体上，蛋白质表面相互作用在许多科学领域都是一个重要的考虑因素。了解相互作用的机制可能会导致更好的策略来控制蛋白质表面相互作用。该项目将特别关注金纳米颗粒。更好地了解蛋白质-金纳米粒子的相互作用可能会导致更灵敏的方法来检测环境中的分子。该项目预计将产生两个重要成果。首先，它将导致更好的预测模型来理解为什么蛋白质与金纳米粒子相互作用。其次，它将揭示蛋白质结合后的结构特征。此外，该项目还支持东南地区本科生研究人员暑期训练营。这个项目被称为生物化学训练营，训练学生如何使用计算工具来解释蛋白质的结构和功能。这些工具不仅用于这个研究项目，还用于其他许多项目。该项目旨在研究参与蛋白质吸附的力，使用基于核磁共振的新方法来监测蛋白质与金纳米颗粒的相互作用。纳米粒子具有极高的表面体积比，因此对研究蛋白质表面相互作用非常有用。该项目将描述多种蛋白质吸附到金纳米颗粒表面所涉及的生物物理力，使用新方法实时监测吸附。具体来说，它将确定控制金纳米颗粒吸附动力学和热力学的结构性质。该项目还将研究几个小模型蛋白质附着在金纳米颗粒表面后的结构。因此，这项工作解决了纳米技术领域的关键挑战之一，同时为广义蛋白质表面相互作用的新研究奠定了基础。此外，该项目有望产生新的基于核磁共振的工具，用于研究其他类型表面上的蛋白质。该奖项由细胞和分子生物科学部分子生物物理集群和OIA/EPSCoR共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The overall goal of this project is to determine the mechanism for how proteins interact with nanoparticle surfaces. Protein-surface interactions are a significant consideration in many scientific fields, from engineering protein-functionalized nanoparticles (NPs) to preventing the attachment of marine organisms to ship hulls. Understanding the mechanism of interaction may lead to better strategies for controlling protein-surface interactions. The project will focus specifically on gold nanoparticles. A better understanding of protein-gold nanoparticle interactions could lead to more sensitive ways to detect molecules in the environment. The project is expected to produce two important results. First, it will lead to better predictive models for understanding why proteins interact with gold nanoparticles. Second, it will reveal the structural characteristics of proteins once they bind. In addition, the project supports a summer training camp for undergraduate researchers in the southeast. This program, called Biochemistry Boot Camp, trains students how to use computational tools for interpreting protein structure and function. These tools are used not only in this research project, but many others as well.This project aims to study the forces involved in protein adsorption using novel NMR-based approaches for monitoring protein interactions with gold nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are useful for studying protein-surface interactions because of their extremely high surface to volume ratio. This project will characterize the biophysical forces involved in multiple protein adsorption to gold nanoparticle surfaces, using novel approaches to monitor adsorption in real time. Specifically, it will identify the structural properties that control adsorption kinetics and thermodynamics to gold nanoparticles. The project will also investigate the structure of several small model proteins after they have attached to the gold nanoparticle surface. Thus, this work addresses one of the key challenges in the field of nanotechnology while laying the groundwork for new investigations into generalized protein-surface interactions. In addition, the project is expected to result in new NMR-based tools for studying proteins on other types of surfaces. This award is jointly funded by the Molecular Biophysics Cluster of the Division of Cellular and Molecular Biosciences and the OIA/EPSCoR.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.