Non-technical: This CAREER Award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to the University of California, Riverside will be used to develop responsive, programmable materials made with RNA and synthetic genes. Biological organisms control their shape in space and time by producing and directing the assembly of molecular building blocks with molecular circuits. The cellular scaffold, for instance, grows and reorganizes its shape in response to environmental stimuli that trigger the production of the scaffold materials and the molecules that regulate its organization. Reproducing the properties of cellular scaffolds in synthetic materials will advance our ability to manipulate matter at the nanoscale and create reconfigurable, regenerating materials. However, cellular materials are too complex to be directly embedded in a man-made material, and chemical synthesis of active assembling materials is very laborious. In contrast, DNA and RNA are highly programmable polymers that can be used to build self-assembling structures as well as molecular control circuits. The overall objective of this project is to couple RNA structures and circuits to build dynamic RNA nanomaterials encoded in minimal artificial DNA gene networks; experiments and modeling will be combined to achieve this objective. RNA nanostructures will be assembled from monomers (tiles) produced by artificial genes. Timed assembly and disassembly instructions will also be encoded in RNA signals generated by synthetic gene networks, resulting in a new generation of smart materials capable of growth, metamorphosis, and self-repair. This grant will support graduate and undergraduate students to perform cutting edge research in biomaterials science. The PI and her team of students will also collaborate with the University of California Television (UCTV), and the UC Riverside Media Relations office to produce short educational clips to be aired on UCTV.
This research project aims at building active, programmable nucleic acid biomaterials encoded in synthetic genes. Modular RNA nanostructures (tubes and ribbons) will be designed to self-assemble from monomers (tiles) and grow, self-regulate and repair. Production and control pathways will be embedded in transcriptional circuits and only involve DNA, RNA and off-the-shelf proteins. Mathematical models will elucidate design principles and guide experiments. This research has the potential to transform current methods to design and build synthetic materials, because these RNA dynamic nanostructures will be produced, self-assembled, and regulated from a finite number of components, rather than being synthesized with a top-down approach. This approach mimics the organization of cellular pathways for the synthesis and control of molecular materials such as the cytoskeleton: however, our materials will be rationally designed and built, exploiting the programmability of nucleic acids. This project is integrated with an outreach program aimed at disseminating research results and at inspiring high school and undergraduate students to pursue higher education through the production of educational materials and short video clips in collaboration with the University of California Television (UCTV), and the UC Riverside Media Relations office.
