Switch-like Control of Amyloidosis in pH-Responsive Artificial Proteins

Friday, October 13, 2023

2:45 PM – 3:00 PM PDT

Location: 334 (Center, Level 3)

Presenting Author(s)

Max Ney (he/him/his)

PhD Candidate
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina, United States

Co-Author(s)

YS

Yulia Shmidov, PhD (she/her/hers)

postdoc
DUKE University
Durham, North Carolina, United States
JZ

James Zheng

Duke University, United States
PS

Parul Sirohi

Duke University, United States
SK

Sarah Kim

Duke University, United States

Primary Investigator(s)

AC

Ashutosh Chilkoti

Alan L. Kaganov Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Duke University, United States

Liquid-liquid phase separation and amyloidosis underlie the functions of many intrinsically disordered proteins and emerging peptide technologies. We recapitulate the architecture of such proteins using modular polypeptide sequences that confer temperature-induced phase separation and pH-controlled fibrillization. These materials exhibit switch-like control over amyloidosis when brought from neutral pH to acidic pHs reported in some tissues, making them promising artificial proteins for environmentally-directed behaviors.