Self Assembly of Conductive Fibers from Bioinspired Peptides
Abstract
Bioelectronic materials aim to interface synthetic electronic devices with biological systems, from biomolecules to cells, tissues, and entire organisms. The union of solid state and biomaterials enables applications such as wearable or implantable devices, portable and biocompatible power sources, real time sensors, and neural interfaces. Proteins and peptides are ideal building blocks due to their properties of biocompatibility, self assembly and molecular recognition. The design and understanding of long range electronic conductivity in protein and peptide biomaterials is a quickly growing field of interest. Long range electron transport (> um) is a rare but established phenomenon in biology, and little is known about the conduction mechanisms. Inherent electronic conductivity has been established in anaerobic bacterial protein fiber appendages that also exhibit extreme environmental stability. Taking inspiration from these conductive appendages, previous AFOSR funded work in the Hochbaum lab designed a self assembling de novo peptide system based on a novel coiled coil interaction motif, the Phe Ile zipper. The resulting antiparallel coiled coil hexamers (ACC Hex) form nanofibers that are conductive and serve as direct electron transfer supports for enzymatic electrocatalysis. Here, we propose to develop scientific insights into the assembly, environmental stability, and properties of functional, supramolecular peptide materials. Mutable residues in the hydrophobic ACC Hex core and on the solvent exposed surface will be modified to explore the limits of thermodynamic stability of these protein supramolecular assemblies under extreme conditions. New interaction motifs will be designed to support specific interactions between ACC Hex building blocks for robust mechanisms of fibrilization. Lastly, fibers developed through these studies will be used as conductive immobilization supports for enzyme electrochemistry under extreme conditions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 14, 2022
- Source ID
- FA95501910380
Entities
People
- Allon I Hochbaum
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of California, Irvine