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

在这个由化学部门管理的项目中，Merg教授和他在加州大学默塞德分校的学生旨在建立设计和构建肽基纳米材料的新方法。开发能够精确控制纳米材料的物理和化学性质的策略，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的使命一致，即服务于圣华金山谷，这是加州一个种族多元化和服务不足的地区。这项研究将通过参与沉浸式暑期研究项目，以及在附近高中、少数族裔服务机构和会议上的招聘活动，为当地高中生和大学生提供支持，其中大多数学生来自STEM领域代表性不足的群体。Merg教授正在开发合成方案，用于制造包含多个从头卷曲的线圈肽序列的大肽环。这些多价生物分子将被评估其通过特定的、正交的线圈相互作用形成各种预定的多聚物复合物的能力。该项目的成功可能会产生一种新的肽设计和组装策略，有可能创造出完全合成的模拟蛋白结构，应用于催化、治疗和传感。该项目将利用Merg教授作为ACS项目SEED（经济弱势群体暑期体验）的校园协调员的角色，为高中生参与者提供STEM研讨会，邀请他们参加会议，并在暑期研究项目结束时建立正式的颁奖仪式。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。

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.