Rational Design of Nanostructures Derived from Self-Assembly of Helical Peptide Motifs

有机和大分子化学计划支持埃默里大学化学系的Vincent Conticello教授进行研究，该研究利用生物系统中采用的结构指导方针来设计和构建非天然的纳米级材料，这些材料显示出天然生物分子组装的结构特异性和化学和空间独特的官能团。该提案描述了基于α-螺旋结构基序的肽亚单元的设计和合成，所述α-螺旋结构基序可以自组装成功能化纤维和纤维网络。这些可以用作生物系统中的功能元件，其作用包括蛋白质-蛋白质识别、运动、信号转导和感测/致动。Conticello教授假设，合成的螺旋肽可以自组装成功能性蛋白质纤维，模仿和扩展天然蛋白质纤维的功能作用。肽序列的化学合成控制应有助于在由自组装产生的纳米结构中的特定限定位置处引入所需的官能团，包括非天然官能团。这些合成肽模块将用于定义原纤维自组装的范围，并创建纳米级支架，用于呈现沿原纤维轴沿着以周期性间隔排列的官能团，最终可以铰接成功能仿生器件。在有机和大分子化学计划的支持下，埃默里大学化学系的Vincent Conticello教授正在开发一个研究项目，螺旋肽的受控组装为设计用于纳米技术应用的独特组装材料提供了许多机会。这项工作包括一套详细的实验设计参数，可用于控制纤维结构的组装，以及用无机（或其他）材料修改这些结构的计划。 无机颗粒在这些长度尺度上的组装具有重要的研究意义，并且标志着生物材料和无机材料结合的主要优点之一。毫无疑问，这项研究将产生该领域有趣和有用的知识。Conticello教授的研究生和博士后研究员将通过一个新成立的新生研讨会系列参与本科教育，题为“秩序的起源”。“研究员将向本科生介绍他们的研究项目，以说明科学发现的过程。这些研讨会将讨论的主题包括模板定向合成的益生元起源，蛋白质折叠，大分子系统中的分层自组织，这些都广泛涵盖在他的研究范围内。参与该项目的研究生，博士后研究人员和本科生也将作为基础和应用分子进化中心（FAME）的积极参与者做出贡献。这是埃默里大学和格鲁吉亚理工学院联合发起的一项倡议，致力于在分子背景下研究进化，重点是在实验室中合成新分子和材料的应用。

The Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports Professor Vincent Conticello of the Department of Chemistry at Emory University for research that utilizes the structural guidelines employed in biological systems for the design and construction of non-native, nano-scale materials that display the structural specificity and the chemically and spatially unique functional group presentation of native biomolecular assemblies. This proposal describes the design and synthesis of peptide sub-units based upon a-helical structural motifs that can self-assemble into functionalized fibers and fiber networks. These can be employed as functional elements in biological systems in roles including protein-protein recognition, locomotion, signal transduction, and sensing/actuation. Professor Conticello hypothesizes that synthetic helical peptides can be created to self-assemble into functional protein fibrils that emulate and expand upon the functional roles of native protein fibrils. Chemosynthetic control of peptide sequence should facilitate introduction of the desired functionality, including non-native functionality, at specifically defined positions in the nano-structures resulting from self-assembly. These synthetic peptide modules will be employed to define the scope of the fibril self-assembly and create nano-scale scaffolds for the presentation of functional groups arranged at periodic intervals along the fibril axis, which can be ultimately articulated into functional biomimetic devices.With the support of the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program, Professor Vincent Conticello of the Department of Chemistry at Emory University is developing a research program where well-controlled assembly of helical peptides offers many opportunities for the design of unique assembled materials for nanotechnology applications. The work includes a detailed set of experimental design parameters that can be used to govern the assembly of fibrillar structures, as well as a plan for the modification of these structures with inorganic (or other) materials. The assembly of inorganic particles on these length scales is of significant research interest and marks one of the primary advantages of the marriage of biological and inorganic materials. Interesting and useful knowledge in the field will undoubtedly emerge from this research. Professor Conticello's graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will be involved in undergraduate education through a newly established Freshman Seminar series entitled "The Origins of Order." Research fellows will present their research projects to undergraduate students to provide an indication of the process through which scientific discovery occurs. Themes to be discussed in these seminars include prebiotic origins of template-directed synthesis, protein folding, hierarchical self-organization in macromolecular systems, which are broadly encompassed within the scope of his research. Graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and undergraduate students involved in this project will also contribute as active participants within the Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution (FAME). This is a jointly sponsored initiative between Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology dedicated to the investigation of evolution in a molecular context with an emphasis on applications toward the synthesis of novel molecules and materials in the laboratory.