Development of Functional Peptide Nanostructures

受天然蛋白质特性的启发，我们团队正致力于构建纳米尺度的人造分子系统，旨在以前所未有的效率执行特定任务。尽管使用创造性的方法已经取得了巨大的成功，但还需要更多的工作来描绘分子指南，以预测和理解人工纳米系统的功能，最重要的是，将其开发成常规的实际应用。我们计划的统一主题是构建独特的纳米级分子结构，具有量身定做的功能，利用化学合成的力量与多肽结构的优势相结合。更具体地说，这项建议描述了我们将投入努力的三个研究领域：1)使用人工离子通道开发生物相关分析的实时传感设备，2)选择性纳米化疗药物的开发，以及3)基于冠肽纳米结构的有效抗菌剂的发现。

Inspired by the properties of natural proteins, our group is working to construct artificial molecular systems of nanometer dimension designed to perform specific tasks with unprecedented level of efficiency. Even though great successes have been achieved using creative approaches, lot more work is necessary to delineate the molecular guidelines to predict and understand the functions of artificial nanoscale systems and, most importantly, to exploit them into routine practical applications. The unifying theme of our program is the construction of unique nanoscale molecular architectures with tailor-made functions exploiting the power of combining chemical synthesis with the advantages of peptidic structures. More specifically, this proposal describes three research areas where we will invest our efforts; 1) the use of artificial ion channels for the development of real-time sensing devices for biologically relevant analytes, 2) the development of selective nanochemotherapeutics, and 3) the discovery of efficient antimicrobials based on crown peptide nanostructures.