Spatially Encoded Hard-Soft Colloidal Nanomaterials

在化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学计划的支持下，伊利诺伊大学香槟分校的凯瑟琳·墨菲教授正在开发用空间和化学控制来包裹球形和棒状无机纳米材料的方法。纳米棒侧面或尖端的选择性化学产生类似于抗体的片状纳米材料，抗体是可以识别特定蛋白质等大分子的纳米级物体。一个应该与特定补丁结合的小蛋白质文库正在筛选涂层纳米材料的选择性。α-突触核蛋白是一种富含大脑的蛋白质，当与纳米级的脂泡结合时会改变形状，这种蛋白质的聚集与被称为帕金森氏症的神经退行性疾病有关。α-突触核蛋白在与软性或硬性脂泡模拟物结合后聚集的能力正在评估中，以用于未来神经退行性疾病的检测或治疗干预。从事这一项目的研究生和本科生将学习合成、表征和测量纳米材料的生物化学特性。正在建立一个通往科学的入口计划，目标是对科学感兴趣但对该领域陌生的本科生。这一计划旨在扩大学生的参与，这些学生来自历史上在科学领域代表性不足的群体。正在开展专业发展活动，以改善科学企业在研究道德和计划环境方面的运作，并将与学生和教职员工进行讨论，以使他们能够蓬勃发展。这项研究涉及将种子介导的各向异性纳米结构(如金纳米棒)的生长扩展到纳米尺度的保形和补丁涂层。硬质磷酸钙矿物和软质水凝胶和水溶性涂层将被测试其在分子功能化金纳米棒上保持斑块行为的能力。其中一些贴片显示出对特定蛋白质的亲和力，因此蛋白质成像实验将被用来了解片状纳米材料如何导致片状蛋白质吸附。α-突触核蛋白在这些软、硬纳米材料上的结合和分子显示将通过动态光散射、等离子激元和质谱学来测量。随后的光固化实验将使用标准光学分析、动态光散射和电子显微镜进行评估。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Catherine Murphy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is developing methods to coat spherical and rod-shaped inorganic nanomaterials with spatial and chemical control. Selective chemistry on nanorod sides or tips generates patchy nanomaterials that are analogous to antibodies, which are nanoscale objects that can recognize large molecules such as specific proteins. A small library of proteins that should bind to specific patches is being screened for selectivity with the coated nanomaterials. Aggregation of the protein, alpha-synuclein, a brain-abundant protein that changes shape when binding to nanoscale lipid vesicles, is associated with the neurodegenerative condition known as Parkinson’s Disease. The ability of alpha-synuclein to aggregate after binding to either soft or hard lipid vesicle mimics is being assessed for future applications in either detection or therapeutic intervention for neurodegenerative disease. Graduate and undergraduate students working on this project will learn to synthesize, characterize, and measure the biochemical properties of nanomaterials. An on-ramp to science program is being established that targets undergraduates who are interested in science but are new to the field. This program aims to broaden the participation of students from groups that have been historically underrepresented in science. Professional development activities to improve the functioning of the scientific enterprise in terms of research ethics and program climate are being developed and will be discussed with both students and faculty to allow them to thrive.This research involves expanding the seed-mediated growth of anisotropic nanostructures such as gold nanorods to nanoscale conformal and patchy coatings. Both hard calcium phosphate mineral and soft hydrogel and water-soluble coatings will be examined for their ability to maintain patchy behavior on molecularly functionalized gold nanorods. Some of these patches exhibit affinity to specific proteins, so protein imaging experiments will be used to understand how patchy nanomaterials lead to patchy protein adsorption. Alpha-Synuclein binding to and molecular display at these soft and hard nanomaterials will be measured via dynamic light scattering, plasmonics, and mass spectrometry. Subsequent fibrillization experiments will be evaluated using standard optical assays, dynamic light scattering, and electron microscopy.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.