Protein based biological and bio-inspired materials and composites

虽然我们通常认为有机化合物是生命的基础，但许多生物材料实际上是由有机和无机物质组成的复合结构。例如，我们的骨骼和牙齿主要由有机蛋白纤维（胶原蛋白）和磷酸钙矿物（羟基磷灰石）组成。这两个组件之间复杂的相互作用形成了一个复杂的层次结构，具有令人印象深刻的机械性能。同样，有机-矿物质的相互作用对一些定居动物的生物粘附至关重要，比如软体动物，它们通过一种可以在水下形成的蛋白胶附着在岩石上。令人惊讶的是，尽管这些界面在生物粘附和生物矿化等现象中起着至关重要的作用，但它们的形成、组成和结构的细节仍然没有得到很好的理解。更好地理解这些现象中的蛋白质-表面相互作用对各种应用中的界面材料设计具有重要意义，包括新型仿生湿粘合剂，靶向防污表面和用于硬-软界面再生的组织工程支架。

While we normally think of organic compounds as the basis of life, many biological materials are in fact composite structures, comprised of both organic and inorganic substances. Our bones and teeth, for example, are composed primarily of organic protein fibres (collagen) and a calcium phosphate mineral (hydroxyapatite). Complex interactions between these two components result in an intricate hierarchical assembly with impressive mechanical properties. Likewise, organic-mineral interactions are critical to the bioadhesion of some sedentary animals like mollusks, which attach to rocks using a protein glue that can set underwater. Surprisingly, details of the formation, composition and structure of many of these interfaces are still not well understood, despite its vital role in phenomena such as bioadhesion and biomineralization. A better understanding of protein-surface interactions in these phenomena has important implications for interfacial materials design in a variety of applications, including novel bio-inspired wet adhesives, targeted anti-fouling surfaces, and tissue engineering scaffolds for regeneration of hard-soft interfaces. The overall goal of my research program is to discover new design principles from the study of composite biological systems, and to apply these principles in the development of bio-inspired materials and surfaces. The first part of the grant is in the area of bioadhesion. Objective 1 will determine which proteins form the glue that allows freshwater mussels (zebra and quagga musssels) to attach to surfaces underwater. While the adhesion of marine mussel species has been extensively studied, much less is understood about the mechanisms of adhesion in freshwater mussels, whose proteins we have shown to be very different, suggesting a different mechanism of adhesion. This knowledge will be critical in developing a targeted strategy to control biofouling of invasive freshwater mussel species in the Great Lakes that will replace current non-specific controls (Objective 2), and in the long term will serve as framework for novel freshwater mussel-inspired bioadhesives. Objective 3, in the area of biomineralization, will focus on the design of multiphasic biomimetic scaffolds incorporating mineralized and non-mineralized collagen for the restoration of hard-soft tissue interfaces, which pose unique challenges for regeneration. Through the application of advanced characterization techniques combined with novel synthetic strategies, this program will contribute to the fundamental understanding of protein-surface and protein-mineral interactions, and will develop bio-inspired materials and surfaces with applications in biofouling, bioadhesion, and tissue engineering. The trainees who will work on these projects will develop unique multidisciplinary skills and insight into composite biological and bio-inspired materials.