Molecular design of protein nanofibrils for new materials

New materials will unavoidably have key roles in the transformation to a sustainable society.

Although some of the most fascinating materials in nature are built from proteins, the knowledge about how to design and engineer protein-based materials is limited.

The goal of my research programme is to develop a novel design paradigm for hierarchical protein materials for industrial scale production. Hierarchical structures are the hallmark of natural biomaterials and the key to their extraordinary properties. My design approach exploits the ability of proteins to self-assemble into amyloid-like protein nanofibrils (PNFs).

The PNFs constitute the starting point for assembly of larger structures in a controlled way.

The proposed project will bring molecular biotechnology and protein engineering into the design of industrial scale protein-based materials. We will develop methods to functionalize nanofibrils from natural sources by incorporation of synthetic protein units. To achieve this, the assembly mechanisms of PNFs from whey and soybean will first be investigated in detail.

In particular, the roles of different peptide segments in the assembly process and their abilities to co-fibrillate will be elucidated.

The acquired knowledge will be used to design silk-like structural networks and to deciphering the relationship between the molecular/nanoscale interactions and the mechanical properties of macroscopic materials.