9727401 Kaplan The objective of this project is to gain new insights into the interactions between the primary sequence of a protein and the influence of the surrounding environment on protein conformation and self-assembly. The manipulation of interfacial chemistry, coupled with the control of the primary sequence of fibrous proteins, may provide new information on the key factors responsible for the formation of secondary and higher order structures in proteins. Recent results indicate that the conformation and higher order structures generated by the fibrous protein, silk fibroin, can be significantly influenced by the surrounding environment, self-assembling into crystal structures and oriented textures as well as mesophases, depending on the environment imposed. The potential implications from this project are significant in areas of protein patterning, the use of proteins as templates for secondary nucleation of other proteins or for inorganic materials, and in the control of macroscopic materials properties such as permeation and other transport phenomena. ***
