报告题目：Liquid-liquid phase separation mediated self-assembly of bioinspired peptides and proteins

报告人：俞   璟 教授

邀请人：霍峰蔚 教授

报告时间：2023年12月27日（星期三）9:00

报告地点：科技D楼1903会议室

报告摘要

In this talk I will briefly go over the research activity of my group in the area of bioinspired functional self-assembly peptides. The first example I will give is our research on mussel-inspired wet adhesives. Marine mussels achieve strong underwater adhesion by depositing mussel foot proteins (Mfps) that form coacervates or liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) during the protein secretion. However, the molecular mechanisms that govern the phase separation behaviors of the Mfps are still not fully understood. We report that GK-16*, a peptide derived from the primary adhesive protein Mfp-5, forms coacervate in seawater conditions. Molecular dynamics simulations combined with point mutation experiments demonstrate that Dopa- and Gly- mediated hydrogen-bonding interactions are essential in the coacervation process. The properties of GK-16* coacervates could be controlled by tuning the strength of the electrostatic and Dopa-mediated hydrogen bond interactions via controlling the pH and salt concentration of the solution. The second example I will give is a self-assembly system inspired by insect cuticular proteins (ICPs). The peptides can form hollow nano-capsules in water-acetone mixed solvent via a LLPS mediated self-assembly process. Biochemical analysis showed that ICPs transit into beta sheet structure during the assembly process, which is essential to the formation of the hollow nano-capsule structure.

个人简介

俞璟（Jing Yu），新加坡南洋理工大学（NTU，材料工程系位列2021 QS世界大学排名第1位）材料科学与工程学院副教授、助理主席（学术）。先后于清华大学获得学士学位，并于2012年在美国加州大学圣巴巴拉分校获得化学工程博士学位，师从Jacob Israelachvili（胶体、界面科学先驱，美国科学院等六院院士）。随后在美国加州理工学院、芝加哥大学从事博士后研究工作，于2017年加入南洋理工大学。俞教授曾经获得过新加坡NRF，NAP fellow，是新加坡年轻教授的最高教授荣誉。俞璟博士的主要研究兴趣集中在具有多尺度结构的生物和仿生材料的动力学性质表征，致力于实现对软材料在分子水平上的控制，实现集成化、多功能界面的设计。研究成果收到国际同行的广泛关注和认可，并在Science、Nat. Chem. Biol.、Nat Comm, Sci Adv, JACS、PNAS、Adv. Mater.等国际顶级期刊发表论文数十篇。