Biological Nanostructures Facility
This facility studies the synthesis, analysis and mimicry of biological nanostructures. Expertise and capabilities are available to develop new materials based on the self-assembly of peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, and bio-inspired polymers. New bio-friendly imaging probes based on functionalized inorganic nanocrystals are being developed and are available to facilitate state-of-the-art bio-imaging studies. Synthetic biology techniques are used to re-engineer organisms and create hybrid biomolecules to interface with devices. Additional capabilities include synthesis of bio- and biomimetic polymers, bioconjugation, and combinatorial peptide and peptoid library synthesis and screening. Protein expression, microbial and eukaryotic cell culture, phage display, cellular engineering and biological microscopy, including total internal reflection and single molecule imaging are offered. Current research in this facility has three major focus areas: 1) engineering of microbes to produce nano-scale assemblies; 2) analysis of biological systems using new nanocrystal-based luminescent probes; and 3) mimicry of precise biological architectures with bio-inspired polymers.
Research efforts in this Facility include:
- synthesis of photo-switchable quantum dots and upconverting nanoparticles;
- targeting of fluorescent nanocrystals to specific intracellular targets for biological imaging;
- design and synthesis of protein mimetics and new materials using sequence-specific peptoid polymers; and
- transplanting electron transfer machinery from mineralizing and photosynthetic organisms into E. coli.
Expertise includes:
- mammalian and microbial cell culture;
- protein expression and purification;
- sequence-specific polymer synthesis: peptides and peptoids;
- biocompatible coating of nanomaterials;
- biological imaging using quantum dots;
- phage display of peptide libraries;
- molecular biology techniques for DNA/RNA manipulations;
- genetic engineering of cell lines for materials integration; and
- combinatorial library synthesis and screening.
