Technical: This award will support research into the design of novel materials with tunable properties and stimuli-responsiveness. Inspired by the fact that in nature many proteins self-assemble into complex supramolecular and nanoscale structures, which are exquisitely tuned to respond to various chemical and mechanical stimuli, Regan and colleagues take up the challenge to harness and adapt the chemical properties of proteins to assemble novel designer smart gels. Arrays of tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) modules will form the basis for the initial designs. The TPR is a protein structural motif consisting of a degenerate 34 amino acid sequence found in many proteins. It mediates protein - protein interactions and the assembly of multiprotein complexes. Such arrays adopt a defined super-helical structure, and their stability can be predicted from the behavior of the modules from which they are composed. The funding will allow them to create novel materials in which the mechanical and chemical properties are tuned through appropriate design and selection of their constituent protein molecules. They will synthesize a novel suite of designer materials by exploiting the intrinsic properties of the constituent proteins and establish general design principles for creating such materials. A unique feature of the approach that they will pursue is the ability to incorporate specific stimuli-responsiveness into the materials by appropriately tailoring their molecular components. There are many potential applications for such novel materials, including tissue engineering, targeted drug delivery, and artificial light harvesting arrays.
The PI proposes to harness and adapt the chemical properties of proteins to assemble novel designer smart gels. She will tune the mechanical and chemical properties of such materials through appropriate design and selection of their constituent protein molecules. The materials created will find applications in tissue engineering, targeted drug delivery, and artificial light harvesting arrays. Students supported by this grant will enter through the Yale Integrated Graduate Program in Physical and Engineering Biology (IGPPEB). The PI is Director of this program, whose goal is to educate a new generation of students who combine excellence in quantitative approaches with a biological sophistication that allows them to identify and apply their skills to cutting-edge problems. Regan is also a co-director of an REU program at Yale, which will bring students from under-represented groups and undergraduate-only institutions to participate in this research. To instill an interest in science in the next generation, Regan will work with Breakthrough New Haven - a high school preparation program for socio-economically disadvantaged students in Grades 7 and 8. Breakthrough seeks to promote science as a vehicle to foster academic achievement at the middle school level. The PIs will work with teachers to implement new age-appropriate modern laboratory science modules for Breakthrough's summer school program. Regan is Director of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Institute for Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences at Yale. In this role she supports and expands the activities of the IGPPEB and develops relationships with other universities, both nationally and internationally, to promote interactions between students and faculty who are engaged in interdisciplinary research.
