Random heteropolymers preserve protein function in foreign environments

Abstract

Natural proteins combine a range of useful features, including chemical diversity, the ability to rapidly switch between preprogrammed shapes, and a hierarchy of structures. Panganiban et al. designed random copolymers with polar and nonpolar groups, using many of the features found in proteins (see the Perspective by Alexander-Katz and Van Lehn). Their structures could serve as “broad spectrum” surfactants, able to promote the solubilization of proteins in organic solvents and help preserve the functionality of proteins in aqueous environments.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Mar 16, 2018
Source ID
10.1126/science.aao0335

Entities

People

  • Aaron Hall
  • Anton Allen Abbotsford Smith
  • Baofu Qiao
  • Brian Panganiban
  • Christopher DelRe
  • Eric Drockenmuller
  • Izaac Sit
  • Marquise G Crosby
  • Mona M Obadia
  • Monica Olvera de la Cruz
  • Patrick B Dennis
  • Tao Jiang
  • Ting Xu
  • Trung Dac Nguyen

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Northwestern University
  • Sherman Fairchild Foundation
  • United States Department of Defense
  • United States Department of Energy
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

Tags

Readers

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Molecular Genetics
  • Nanocomposite Materials Science

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics