H2020Индивидуална стипендия2016–2018

BioExtrusion · Natural functional plasticizers for controlled protein folding and extrusion into biomaterials.

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2016-05-01 → 2018-04-30
Финансиране от ЕС: 160 800 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF-EF-ST

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Полифенолните съединения при паяците се изследват за това как помагат на протеините да се превърнат в твърди влакна при стайна температура. Това помага за създаването на екологични биоматериали с антибактериални свойства.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Natural functional plasticizers for controlled protein folding and extrusion into biomaterials.

With a raised global awareness of industrial environmental pollution, polymer research is focusing on green biopolymers. The spinning gland of spiders and silk moths is the holy grail in green extrusion, as silk is spun at ambient and water-based conditions. This is achieved by finely tuned spinning parameters in the silk gland (pH, ion concentration, stress and water removal), whereby the silk solution is converted into a solid fibre. To date, no one has ever succeeded in spinning at these ambient conditions, used in the natural spinning system. In this project, one missing spinning parameter was investigated, namely small molecules, in the form of polyphenolic compounds that are co-extruded with the silk. We anticipate that small molecules assist in the silk alignment and may even induce β-sheet aggregation by removing the water necessary for converting the silk protein solution into a solid fibre during spinning. The objectives of the project were twofold: (1) investigation of the polyphenol-induced conversion of proteins to β-sheet structures, necessary for a successful transformation of a protein solution into a solid material and (2) applying this knowledge for the cold extrusion of protein-based materials. During the project, it was clear that the synthesis and purification of a small molecular compound accompanying the silk of the spider Nephila edulis was the key challenge of this project and required our full attention in order to study the small molecule-protein interactions. We successfully managed to produce this small molecule in large quantities and in its pure form, a major scientific breakthrough, paving the way for application-oriented scientific work. Furthermore, we found that this compound revealed antibacterial properties and therefore can be used as a new antibiotic. It is clear that this research opened many new possibilities and future perspectives, all which will be continued through continued research efforts beyond the Marie Curie fellowship.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

With a raised global awareness of industrial environmental pollution, the polymer research is focusing on green biopolymers. The spinning gland of spiders and silk moths is the holy grail in green extrusion, as silk is spun at ambient conditions and is water based. This is achieved by finely tuned spinning parameters in the silk gland (pH, ion concentration, stress and water removal), whereby the soluble silk solution is converted into a solid fibre. To date, no one has ever succeeded in spinning at these ambient conditions, used in the natural spinning system.In this project, one missing spinning parameter will be investigated, namely small molecules, in the form of polyphenolic compounds, that are also extruded together with the silk. We formulate the hypothesis that these small molecules help to align and may even induce β-sheet aggregation by removing the water necessary for converting the silk protein solution into a solid fibre during spinning. As this same aggregation of proteins also occurs in many diseases, we will tackle this hypothesis with different techniques from quite different disciplines namely organic chemistry, structural-molecular biology and polymeric sciences. In this way we hope to answer our question that could never be answered by one field alone, as these disciplines will provide complementary data. In a first phase, the polyphenol-induced conversion of proteins to β-sheet structures will be investigated, necessary for a successful transformation of a protein solution into a solid material, supervised by world-leading experts (UGent). In a second phase, this knowledge will be applied for the cold extrusion of protein-based materials in the secondment, a company Luxilon, with extended expertise in fibre extrusion technology. Combining the knowledge of both partners, will enable us to spin protein-based biomaterials like nature does for the first time, resulting in green extrusion, impacting the industrial, medical and social sector.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

UNIVERSITEIT GENT · GentКоординаторБелгия