The general area our lab researches is organic chemistry. The purpose of our research is to create a foldamer capable of switching on in the presence of a chemical fuel. A foldamer is a discrete chain molecule that folds into a conformationally ordered state in solution. They are artificial molecules that mimic the ability of proteins, nucleic acids, and polysaccharides to fold into well-defined conformations, such as α-helices and β-sheets. Hence, we are trying to create one inspired by motor proteins, which use hydrolysis of ATP to convert chemical energy into mechanical work, exerting a force as they “walk” either on actin filaments or microtubules. They are responsible for sliding of filaments, like muscle contraction, and for intracellular transport. Therefore, the potential applications of artificial motor proteins via foldamers are very expansive in the nanotechnology, biomedical, and synthetic biology fields. The foldamer we are designing via synthesis methods like extraction and refluxing and NMR analysis is certainly less complicated than a full scale motor protein as it would just be able to switch on and off depending on if it was in the presence of chemical fuel or not, however this could be a very early step for the scientific community in the path to one day being able to produce artificial molecules as complex as a motor protein. This project has been in the works for a few years now but we are now on the last step of the synthesis. This final step has been difficult to figure out, but we are hoping that we can solve it and achieve results by the end of this semester, with perhaps a paper published by next year. This experience has served as an amazing opportunity to hone my research skills as I prepare to apply to medical school.
Author(s): Jackson Gunn, Renuka Baral, C. Scott Hartley, Ph.D
Advisor(s): C. Scott Hartley, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department
Renuka Baral, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department
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