Functional bionanomaterials from the assembly of protein-polymer surfactant conjugates

Condensed Matter lunchtime seminar

Functional bionanomaterials from the assembly of protein-polymer surfactant conjugates

  • Event time: 1:00pm
  • Event date: 12th May 2014
  • Speaker: Adam Perriman (University of Bristol)
  • Location: Room 2511,

Event details

Soft hybrid bionanomaterials comprising proteins and synthetic polymers provide an attractive opportunity to increase the diversity of chemical milieux encountered by protein-based components. This is because the chemical construction of a surface-bound polymer corona enables the biomolecules to be utilised in a range of dielectric mediums, and potentially, in both the solid and the liquid phase. To this end, I describe a new integrated approach based on a generic strategy in which nanoscale building blocks are used to produce functional protein-polymer surfactant nanohybrids with a diverse range of properties. The approach involves systematically tuning protein-protein interactions via chemical modifications of the biomolecule surface to produce highly adaptable protein-polymer surfactant nanoconstructs that can be either dehydrated to produce functional solvent-free nanoliquids [1,2], dispersed in aqueous solutions to generate artificial membrane binding proteins with tuneable cell affinities, or spontaneously self-assembled to yield hierarchically ordered, catalytically active soft membranes [3]. Remarkably, this new class of soft hybrid bionanomaterials retains near-native protein structures that are catalytically active, and exhibit extreme thermophilic behaviour.

[1] Perriman, A. W.; Brogan, A. P. S.; Coelfen, H.; Tsoureas, N.; Owen, G. R.; Mann, S., Reversible dioxygen binding in solvent-free liquid myoglobin. Nature Chemistry 2010, 2 (8), 622-626. [2] Perriman, A. W.; Mann, S., Liquid Proteins-A New Frontier for Biomolecule-Based Nanoscience. Acs Nano 2011, 5 (8), 6085-6091. [3] Sharma, K. P.; Collins, A. M.; Perriman, A. W.; Mann, S., Enzymatically Active Self-Standing Protein-Polymer Surfactant Films Prepared by Hierarchical Self-Assembly. Advanced Materials 2013, 25 (14), 2005-2010.

About Condensed Matter lunchtime seminars

This is a weekly series of informal talks given primarily by members of the institute of condensed matter and complex systems, but is also open to members of other groups and external visitors. The aim of the series is to promote discussion and learning of various topics at a level suitable to the broad background of the group. Everyone is welcome to attend..

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