Characterization and functionalization of pilin-derived protein nanotubes

纳米技术在过去十年中取得了重大进展，主要是基于碳纳米管的独特性能。生物学相关的纳米机器及其构建模块的开发通常集中在向碳纳米管支架添加生物学功能。然而，尽管碳纳米管具有独特的化学性质，但由于直接和/或间接毒性的问题，它们在生物系统中的应用仍然有限。我的研究计划侧重于识别和工程蛋白质为基础的系统作为替代方法的生物学接受的纳米结构的发展。与碳纳米管适应相比，这种方法有几个优点，包括获得现代蛋白质工程工具以及生物学上对本身是生物起源的结构的接受。 我最近发现了一种蛋白质纳米管的组装，它来自于铜绿假单胞菌IV型菌毛蛋白的工程形式，这代表了在生理条件下由可溶性单体蛋白质控制生成纳米管的第一个实例。目前的提案旨在表征这些新型蛋白质纳米管的组装和结构，通过蛋白质工程为蛋白质纳米管添加特定功能，并检查蛋白质纳米管在导电和半导电表面上的寡聚化。这些研究将极大地增加我们对这些独特纳米结构组装的理解，并为生物纳米技术应用的蛋白质纳米管的开发向前迈出了重要的一步。

Nanotechnology has progressed significantly over the past decade, based largely on the unique properties of carbon nanotubes. The development of biologically relevant nanomachines and their building blocks has, in general, focused on the addition of biological functionality to carbon nanotube scaffolds. However, despite the unique chemical properties of carbon nanotubes, their use in biological systems remains limited due to issues with direct and/or indirect toxicity. My research program focuses on identifying and engineering protein-based systems as an alternative approach to the development of biologically accepted nanostructures. This method has several advantages over the carbon nanotube adaptation, including access to modern protein engineering tools and the ready biological acceptance of a structure that is itself biotic in origin. I recently discovered the assembly of a protein nanotube from an engineered form of the type IV pilin protein from the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which represents the first instance of the controlled generation of a nanotube from a soluble monomeric protein under physiological conditions. The current proposal aims at characterizing the assembly and structure of these novel protein nanotubes, adding specific functionalities to the protein nanotubes through protein engineering, and examining the oligomerization of protein nanotubes on conducting and semi-conducting surfaces. These studies will greatly increase our understanding into the assembly of these unique nanostructures and provide a significant step forward in the development of protein nanotubes for bionanotechnology applications.