LEAPS-MPS: Expanding the Peptide Assembly Landscape using Multivalent Peptide Macrocycles with Designable Intermolecular Interfaces

在这个由化学系管理的项目中，Merg教授和他在加州大学默塞德分校的学生们的目标是建立设计和构建基于多肽的纳米材料的新方法。能够精确控制纳米材料的物理和化学性质的战略的发展是推动纳米材料在纳米技术中广泛应用的关键一步。该项目与加州大学默塞德分校服务圣华金山谷的使命一致，圣华金山谷是加利福尼亚州一个种族多元化且服务不足的地区。这项研究将通过参加身临其境的暑期研究项目以及在附近的高中、少数族裔服务机构和会议上的招聘活动，支持当地的高中生和大学生，他们中的大多数来自STEM中代表性不足的群体。Merg教授正在开发合成方案，用于制造包含多个从头卷曲的多肽序列的大分子多肽大环。这些多价生物分子将被评估它们通过特定的、基于螺旋螺旋的特定相互作用来形成各种预定的多聚体复合体的能力。该项目的成功可能产生一种新的多肽设计和组装策略，有可能创造出在催化、治疗和传感方面应用的全合成蛋白质模拟结构。该项目将利用MERG教授作为ACS项目SEED(经济弱势群体的夏季体验)的校园协调员的角色，通过STEM研讨会、会议邀请函以及在夏季研究项目结束时建立正式的颁奖仪式来支持高中生参与者。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In this project managed by the Chemistry Division, Professor Merg and his students at the University of California, Merced aim to establish new approaches to the design and construction of peptide-based nanomaterials. The development of strategies that afford the ability to precisely control the physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials is a critical step in furthering their deployment for a broad range of applications in nanotechnology. The project aligns with the mission of UC Merced in serving the San Joaquin Valley, an ethnically diverse and underserved region of California. This research will support local high school and college students, a majority of whom come from underrepresented groups in STEM, through participation in immersive summer research programs and through recruiting activities at nearby high schools, minority serving institutions, and conferences. Professor Merg is developing synthetic protocols for fabricating large peptide macrocycles that comprise multiple de novo coiled coil peptide sequences. These multivalent biomolecules will be assessed for their ability to associate via specific, orthogonal coiled coil-based interactions to form various predetermined multimeric complexes. Success of the project could yield a new peptide design and assembly strategy with the potential for creating fully synthetic protein-mimetic constructs with applications in catalysis, therapeutics, and sensing. The project will leverage the role of Professor Merg as the campus coordinator of ACS Project SEED (Summer Experiences for the Economically Disadvantaged) by supporting the high school student participants with STEM workshops, invitations to conferences, and the establishment of a formal awards ceremony at the conclusion of the summer research program.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.