Protein design and material design at the nano-bio interface

Over the last two decades, newly emerging nanomaterials have demonstrated a great potential to overcome limitations in current engineering technology. However, site-specific assembly of nanomaterials for highly integrated systems still remains as a major challenge. De novo protein design has been historically used to validate the principles governing the process of biomolecular folding and assembly. However, de novo design of proteins and peptides from physical principles may have an even greater impact when applied to recognizing and organizing nanomaterials. We demonstrate that nano-bio hybrid structures can be engineered to assemble in a structurally-specific manner, and this presents a promising way of addressing current limitations in nanoscale assembly. In my work at the DeGrado laboratory, I have employed novel protein-design techniques based on computational modeling to successfully engineer a series of hybrid structures composed of carbon-based nanomaterials and artificial proteins. In addition, we have identified general rules for designing peptides that recognize surface lattices and further self-associate to achieve superstructure – major progress in the field of nano-assembly. This novel methodology for the construction of nano-bio hybrid materials, as well as the unique structural motifs for this purpose that we identified, suggest a promising role for proteins in nanomaterials technology