Responsive soft materials from designer protein polymers

该研究计划结合了蛋白质设计，生物物理学和软凝聚态物理学的元素，以创建和研究基于蛋白质的软材料。 我的实验室在使用计算生物物理学和分子生物学方法设计和创造具有所需结构和功能特征的聚合物样蛋白方面具有专业知识。 生物工程蛋白质聚合物具有精确确定的序列和分子量，从而允许选择分子属性（如蛋白质构象和弹性）和控制控制蛋白质结合成材料的分子间相互作用。 这种基于蛋白质的材料在细胞和组织工程、再生医学和靶向药物递送中具有广泛的应用。 然而，对它们的分子组成和结构如何决定它们的物理性质（自组装，微观结构和机械行为）的基本理解仍然相当不完整。该计划的重点是这些大分子的基本行为和它们形成的材料中两个相互关联的主题领域：（I）模块化蛋白质共聚物及其超分子组装体和（II）弹性蛋白质响应蛋白质水凝胶。 在每个主题中，我们将创造新材料，其研究将揭示分子设计如何影响物理特性的基本方面。 这些知识是蛋白质基材料在生物医学和生物技术中应用的更普遍效用的第一步。 进行这种研究的过程将为HQP提供独特的培训，这将广泛适用于加拿大生物技术部门的研究和开发职业。

This proposed research program combines elements of protein design, biophysics, and soft condensed matter physics to create and study protein-based soft materials. My lab has expertise in the use of computational biophysics and molecular biology methods for designing and creating polymer-like proteins with desired structural and functional features. Biologically engineered protein polymers have precisely determined sequence and molecular weight, thereby allowing for the selection of molecular attributes (such as protein conformation and elasticity) and the control of the intermolecular interactions that govern the association of proteins into materials. Such protein-based materials have a wide variety of applications in cell and tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and targeted drug delivery. Yet, fundamental understanding of how their molecular composition and architecture determines their physical properties (self-assembly, microstructure, and mechanical behaviour) is still rather incomplete. The proposed program is focused on two interrelated thematic areas in the fundamental behaviour of these macromolecules and the materials they form: (I) Modular Protein Copolymers and their Supramolecular Assemblies and (II) Elastomeric Proteins for Responsive Protein Hydrogels. In each theme we will create new materials whose study will shed light on fundamental aspects of how molecular design impacts physical properties. Such knowledge is is a first step toward more general utility of protein based materials for applications in biomedicine and biotechnology. The process of conducting such research would provide unique training to HQP that would be broadly applicable to research and development careers in the Canadian biotechnology sector.