Electrical Switching and Control of Reflectin and other Proteins
Electrochemically enabled (a) ATR-FTIR and (b) PM-IRRAS instrumentation will provide simultaneous electrochemical activation and high-resolution, real-time spectroscopic analyses of reflectin conformational transition pathways through measurement of dynamic changes in spectroscopic signatures of different vibrational bands. IRRAS will provide absorption measurements for both polarizations with preferential high sensitivity to near-surface (near-electrode) species.
This project seeks to achieve the following objectives:
Objective 1: To develop and use new instrumentation and methods, in conjunction with genetic engineering, to kinetically resolve and more deeply analyze the structural determinants and mechanisms governing the low-voltage electrochemically triggered folding and assembly of reflectin, its dynamic arrest, and formation and function of liquid-liquid phase-separated microdroplets.
Objective 2: To more deeply analyze the fluid physics of reflectin’s liquid-liquid phase-separated (LLPS) assemblies, learn how to tune the viscoelasticlty of the Maxwellian fluid state, and thus bring the processibility and physical (materials) properties of the reflectin liquid phase under engineering control.
Objective 3: To transfer what we learn from the above efforts to at least one other protein, enabling its predictive electrical switching and finely tunable control of structure and function, to further bridge the biotic-abiotic gap.
