Title "Peptide Frameworks as Microcosms of Metalloproteins"

Prof. Andy I. Nguyen, Assistant Professor, Chemistry

University of Illinois Chicago

Hosted by: Dr. Aaron Sadow 

Metalloenzymes efficiently catalyze some of the most challenging chemical transformations, many of which are critical to a sustainable society. Learning how to construct similar synthetic mimics by a bottom-up approach would both enhance our understanding of metalloenzymes and allow for the design of highly active artificial catalysts. Model compounds have long focused on the metal center(s), but it is now clear that the contribution of the protein scaffold needs to be addressed. However, the synthesis and structural characterization of elaborate protein-like ligands are major barriers towards the rational synthetic mimicry of the protein scaffold. To address these gaps, our laboratory has developed an approach to rapidly generate molecularly-defined, protein-like platforms via the self-assembly of peptides. We design small, chemically-synthesized peptides that assemble into porous crystalline materials (also called “frameworks”) that can bind metals and have multiple variable positions for rapid engineering of the secondary sphere. Furthermore, nearly all peptide frameworks form single crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction, allowing determination of detailed structural-functional relationships. The modularity and ease of peptide synthesis enables a practical synthetic approach to test how minimalist protein-like environments may elicit remarkable inorganic reactivity.

Bio Sketch: 

Andy is a native of Orange County, CA and obtained his B.S. in chemistry from UC Irvine in 2010 and Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from UC Berkeley in 2016. While at UCI, he explored redox-active complexes of early transition metals in Alan Heyduk’s group. At UC Berkeley, with T. Don Tilley, he worked on the chemistry of artificial photosynthesis, where he developed cobalt metalloclusters and studied their mechanism of catalytic oxygen-evolution. In a postdoctoral fellowship at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with Ron Zuckermann, he gained expertise in peptide and peptidomimetic chemistry. Since 2020, his research group at the University of Illinois Chicago integrates peptide design with inorganic chemistry to tackle challenges involving metalloenzyme mimicry, energy-conversion catalysis, and materials design.