Protein Crystals: New Templates for the Construction of Nanostructured Solids

化学、材料研究、生物工程和环境系统以及分子和细胞生物科学系支持威廉·马什·赖斯大学获得这一多部门奖。这项纳米尺度跨学科研究团队(NIRT)的提案是应《纳米科学与工程》(NSF 00-119)的征集而提交的。根据该项目，具有模板化学经验的材料化学家Vicki Colvin、光学工程师Daniel Mittleman和具有蛋白质晶体生长专业知识的生物学家George Phillips将使用链霉亲和素、溶菌酶和相关蛋白质的晶体开发晶体和整体式纳米结构金属和陶瓷材料。这些蛋白质晶体结构将在模板化前通过戊二醛交联剂得到加强。X射线衍射研究和原子力显微镜成像将用于表征所制备的材料的晶体对称性、周期性和晶体排列的整体质量。这些具有纳米间距的多孔和三维开放晶体无机结构可能会在衍射梯度、透镜、反射镜和其他软X射线光学装置中得到应用。该研究项目还将为博士后、研究生和本科生提供丰富的材料和蛋白质化学多学科教育和培训机会。根据该奖项，将以交联蛋白质晶体为牺牲模板制备有序的介孔纳米结构金属和陶瓷材料。该项目更广泛的影响是了解纳米结构的形成，不同蛋白质晶体支架的模板效应，以及在光谱的软X射线范围内制备的介孔结构的光学性质的测定。此外，该研究项目还将为研究生和本科生提供丰富的材料化学、蛋白质化学和光学方面的多学科教育和培训机会。

Divisions of Chemistry, Materials Research, Bioengineering and Environmental Systems, and Molecular and Cellular Biosciences support this multidivisional award to William Marsh Rice University. This Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) proposal was submitted in response to the solicitation "Nanoscale Science and Engineering" (NSF 00-119). Under this project, Vicki Colvin, a material chemist with experience in template chemistry, Daniel Mittleman, an optical engineer and George Phillips, a biologist with expertise in protein crystal growth, will develop crystalline and monolithic nanostructured metal and ceramic materials using crystals of streptavidin, lysozyme and related proteins. These protein crystalline structures will be reinforced by glutaraldehyde cross-linking before the templating. X-ray diffraction studies and atomic force microscope imaging will be used to characterize the prepared materials with respect to crystal symmetry, periodicity and overall quality of the crystal arrangement. These porous and three-dimensional open crystalline inorganic structures with nanometer spacing may find applications in diffraction gradients, lenses, mirrors and other devices for soft X-ray optics. The research program will also provide a rich multidisciplinary education and training opportunities in material and protein chemistries to postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students.Under the award, ordered mesoporous nanostructured metal and ceramic materials will be fabricated using cross-linked protein crystals as sacrificial templates. The broader impact of the project is the understanding the formation of nanostructures, the templating effect of different protein crystal scaffolding, and the determination of optical properties of the mesoporous structures prepared in the soft X-ray range of the spectrum. In addition, the research program will provide a rich multidisciplinary education and training opportunities in materials chemistry, protein chemistry and optics to graduate and undergraduate students.