Characterization and functionalization of pilin-derived protein nanotubes

在过去的十年里，纳米技术取得了长足的进步，这主要是基于碳纳米管的独特性质。生物相关纳米机器及其构建块的开发通常侧重于将生物功能添加到碳纳米管支架上。然而，尽管碳纳米管具有独特的化学性质，但由于直接和/或间接毒性问题，它们在生物系统中的应用仍然有限。我的研究计划专注于识别和设计基于蛋白质的系统，作为开发生物可接受的纳米结构的替代方法。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，以及对本身是生物的结构准备好生物接受。我最近发现，从铜绿假单胞菌的IV型菌毛蛋白的工程形式中组装出了蛋白质纳米管，这是在生理条件下由可溶单体蛋白控制生成纳米管的第一例。目前的方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的功能，并研究蛋白质纳米管在导电和半导电表面的齐聚作用。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，并在开发用于生物纳米技术的蛋白质纳米管方面向前迈出重要的一步。

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.