Breaking the yield bottleneck of fibrous squid protein
Abstract
Self-assembling protein fibers are valuable building blocks that allow the construction of materials with versatile chemical properties and functions based on their tertiary and quaternary protein structures. Well-studied motifs from structural protein fibers (such as silk, elastin, collagen, keratin, resilin, and squid ring teeth-SRT) protein have been frequently used in combination to create multifunctional materials for diverse applications. Besides their extraction from natural sources, these proteins can be produced at laboratory scale using genetically modified organisms. However, the optimization of biosynthetic pathways and process scale up for commodity-scale mass production have been persistent bottlenecks in the application of these unique materials in highly disruptive technologies (i.e., composites with unique optical, thermal, electronic properties). In this STIX proposal, our goal is to optimize the DNA sequence, fermentation protocol and purification method to enable economical SRT production in recombinant E. coli at very large scale. Ultimately our work will allow this unique and highly impactful material to be utilized in a variety of military and civilian applications.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 20, 2019
- Source ID
- W911NF1910292
Entities
People
- David Wood
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Ohio State University
- United States Army