Shape-Shifting Peptide-Based Nanomaterials

在化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目的支持下，埃默里大学的Vincent Conticello教授将研究从模拟自然组织的多肽中提取的可变形纳米材料的设计、结构和功能特性。它们能够根据当地环境的变化，以一种确定的方式改变自己的形状。这些材料将被设计成二维片状结构，可以可逆地卷起来形成管状或其他更紧凑的结构。这一过程的可逆性在制造纳米材料方面很有希望，这些纳米材料可以用于重要的社会应用，如治疗药物的控制封装和输送。这个项目将涉及到来自科学学科的技能，包括化学、材料科学和生物学。参与该项目的学生将接受肽设计和纳米材料结构分析的尖端研究方法的培训，这将为他们在21世纪劳动力中遇到的具有挑战性的科学问题做好智力准备。与本研究相关的科学材料将在新开发的入门核心课程CHEM 204及其相关的实验室经验中呈现，该课程侧重于大分子结构和功能。功能响应组件的控制制造仍然是纳米科学中的一个关键挑战。虽然序列定义的聚合物（如肽、蛋白质和结构相关的文件夹）是构建具有优异纳米级结构秩序的无数组件的有希望的构建块，但可靠和可预测地编码响应行为和高阶功能的能力超出了当前的合成能力，特别是与生命系统的多组分大分子机器相比。该提案描述并发展了一种通过制造显示表面不对称的二维肽组件来设计可变形纳米材料的方法。该提案的中心假设将集中在设计肽组件的表面不对称可以作为引入不平衡表面应力的机制，这可以在中观尺度上表现为可逆和可控的形态转变。描述了三个目标，以调查该过程的结构范围，并调查材料应用的变形潜力。设想所提出的结构将为创造动态响应材料提供新的机会，这些材料可以通过结合分子机制来驱动这种高阶结构转变，为特定应用量身定制，包括控制底物的捕获和释放，门控催化和能量转导。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。

With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Vincent Conticello of Emory University will investigate the design, structure, and functional properties of shape-shifting nanomaterials derived from peptides that mimic natural tissues. They are capable of changing their shape in a defined manner in response to changes in their local environment. The materials will be designed to form two-dimensional, sheet-like structures that can roll up reversibly to form tubes or other more compact structures. The reversibility of this process is promising in creating nanomaterials that can be tailored for societally important applications such as the controlled encapsulation and delivery of therapeutic agents. This project will involve skills drawn from scientific disciplines including chemistry, materials science, and biology. Students involved in this project will receive training in cutting-edge research methods in peptide design and the structural analysis of nanomaterials, which will prepare them intellectually for the challenging scientific problems encountered in the twenty-first century workforce. Scientific material related to the proposed research will be presented in a newly developed introductory core course, CHEM 204, and its associated laboratory experience, which focuses on macromolecular structure and function.The controlled fabrication of functionally responsive assemblies remains a key contemporary challenge in nanoscience. While sequence-defined polymers (e.g., peptides, proteins, and structurally related foldamers) are promising building blocks for constructing a myriad of assemblies with excellent nanoscale structural order, the ability to reliably and predictably encode responsive behavior and higher-order function lies beyond current synthetic capabilities, especially when compared to the multicomponent macromolecular machines of living systems. This proposal describes and develops an approach to the design of shape-shifting nanomaterials through fabrication of two-dimensional peptide assemblies that display surface asymmetry. The central hypothesis of the proposal will focus on the concept that surface asymmetry in designed peptide assemblies can be employed as a mechanism to introduce unbalanced surface stresses, which can be manifested at the meso-scale in terms of reversible and controllable morphological transitions. Three aims are described to investigate the structural scope of the process and investigate the potential of shape-shifting for materials applications. It is envisioned that the proposed structures will provide new opportunities for creation of dynamically responsive materials that can be tailored for specific applications that include controlled capture and release of substrates, gated catalysis and energy transduction, through incorporation of molecular mechanisms that can actuate this higher-order structural transition.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.