SAXS CHARACTERIZATION OF HELICAL SYNTHETIC POLYPEPTIDES

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Our project, entitled "SAXS Characterization of Helical Synthetic Polypeptides," seeks to understand the shape of our unusual molecules when they are dissolved in a saline solution. These new molecules, where are made from the same building blocks as proteins, were designed to explore the effect of molecule shape and structure on the way proteins interact with toxins like Cholera. The manner in which proteins interact with saccharides (sugars) is critical in many important events in biology, such as inflammation, metastasis, and toxin binding. Although synthetic polymers can be useful in affecting these kinds of events, it is difficult to make synthetic polymers with enough control to clearly understand the polymer/sugar interactions that are important. We think that specific chemical structures, and how the molecules "display" them to each other, are important in the biological events described above. Our approach is to use a combination of synthetic chemistry and biological synthesis to make synthetic proteins that include these very specific chemical structures. Equally importantly, our approach should allow us to control how our molecules "display" those chemical structures because it allows us to control what the shapes of the molecules are when they are dissolved in saline. Our preliminary results from SAXS experiments conducted at the APS indicate that our molecules have the shapes we anticipated. Knowing the shapes of our molecules will allow us to interpret our data regarding the way these molecules interact with saccharides, and allow us to create new materials for medical and therapeutic applications.