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Tandem repeat proteins inspired by squid ring teeth

Author
Pena Francesch, Abdon
Published
[University Park, Pennsylvania] : Pennsylvania State University, 2017.
Physical Description
1 electronic document
Additional Creators
Demirel, Melik C.
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Open Access.
Summary
Proteins are large biomolecules consisting of long chains of amino acids that hierarchically assemble into complex structures, and provide a variety of building blocks for biological materials. The repetition of structural building blocks is a natural evolutionary strategy for increasing the complexity and stability of protein structures. However, the relationship between amino acid sequence, structure, and material properties of protein systems remains unclear due to the lack of control over the protein sequence and the intricacies of the assembly process.In order to investigate the repetition of protein building blocks, a recently discovered protein from squids is examined as an ideal protein system. Squid ring teeth are predatory appendages located inside the suction cups that provide a strong grasp of prey, and are solely composed of a group of proteins with tandem repetition of building blocks. The objective of this thesis is the understanding of sequence, structure and property relationship in repetitive protein materials inspired in squid ring teeth for the first time. Specifically, this work focuses on squid-inspired structural proteins with tandem repeat units in their sequence that are physically cross-linked via -sheet structures. The work presented here tests the hypothesis that increasing the number of building blocks in the polypeptide chain decreases the protein network defects and improves the material properties.Spectroscopic structural analysis, advanced materials characterization, and entropic elasticity theory are combined to elucidate the structure and properties of these repetitive proteins. This approach is applied not only to native squid proteins but also to squid-inspired synthetic polypeptides that allow for a fine control of the sequence and network morphology. The results provided in this work establish a clear dependence between the repetitive building blocks, the network morphology, and the properties of squid-inspired repetitive protein materials. Increasing the number of tandem repeat units in SRT-inspired proteins led to more effective protein networks with superior properties. These findings introduce new design rules in the engineering of proteins based on tandem repetition and morphology control, and provide a novel framework for optimizing the properties of protein-based materials.
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Dissertation Note
Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University, 2017.
Reproduction Note
Microfilm (positive). 1 reel ; 35 mm. (University Microfilms 10-799077)
Technical Details
The full text of the dissertation is available as an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file ; Adobe Acrobat Reader required to view the file.
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