Faraday Discussion, Nanolithography of Bioninterfaces
Abstract
In studying biological interfaces where carbohydrates are prevalent Ð such as the glycocalyx or the extracellular matrix Ð scientists are only beginning to investigate how chemical composition, binding thermodynamics, and 3D structure work synergistically to control development, communication, and disease progression. Carbohydrate-binding Ð in contrast to other biomolecule-substrate recognition Ð is dependent sensitively upon valency, glycan-glycan spacing, and other aspects of 3D morphology, and is therefore far less understood than other types of biological interactions. Synthetic analogues of these interfaces could result in new scaffolds for tissue engineering, biological arrays for interrogating disease, and a more complete picture of how interfacial carbohydrate recognition is dependent upon 3D nanoscale morphology. Thus the importance of reproducing the 3D structure of carbohydrate interfaces for understanding their physical and biological properties cannot be overstated. Advances in this critical area of chemistry, however, have been slow because of unresolved challenges related to controlling the 3D structure of matter at the biological length scale and the lack of understanding how interfacial carbohydrate composition and structure affects physical properties and, in turn, biological function. Capturing the interfacial dynamics that drive the mechanical and biological properties of natural carbohydrate-based nanomaterials will require synergistic advances in 3D nanolithography, surface characterization, and organic and macromolecular chemistry at interfaces. The challenge, and the reason why this topic merits a Faraday Discussion, is that many of the researchers working in this area come from disparate fields that rarely if ever communicate, including physical chemistry, surface chemistry, mechanical engineering, biology, and material science. Biological interfaces are often composed entirely of layers of carbohydrates and their unique binding dynamics involve multivalent and cooperative interfacial interactions that can only be mimicked by dense, 3D reproductions of the natural counterparts. Thus glycochemistry and 3D printing should be closely linked in an effort to study and reproduce the properties of carbohydrate-containing biomaterials and biointerfaces, but the idiosyncratic nature and inherent difficulty of carbohydrate chemistry has delayed the reproduction of cell-surface mimics at the molecular level. Recently, groups from different fields have been making significant advances in creating the printing tools, chemical reactions, and analytical approaches for developing and studying 3D nanostructures composed of glycans and glycomimetics. This Faraday Discussion aims to bring these communities together in a single symposium to create a new language for approaching the challenge of carbohydrate-based biointerfaces ranging from researchers who focus entirely on printing tools, surface chemistry, binding thermodynamics, and glycobiology, and others whose nascent efforts to combine these are leading to groundbreaking new materials and a revolutionary understanding of these unconventional surface interactions, where multivalency and cooperativity have an outsized role. This ARO conference award will support student and speaker travel to a Faraday Discussion titled ÒNanolithography of BiointerfacesÓ that will be held 3 Ð 5 July 2019 in London, UK. Speakers with expertise in nanolithography, 3D printing, and glycobiology will come together to discuss how to prepare model substrates that mirror the structure and chemical complexity of natural biological interfaces, and thereby reproduce the complex functions that are unique to biological systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2019
- Source ID
- W911NF1910237
Entities
People
- Leroy Cronin
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- United States Army
- University of Glasgow