Science at the Edge
Engineering Seminar

Ravi Kane
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

This talk will describe our efforts to interface bioactive molecules with nanomaterials and nanoscale scaffolds for designing potent therapeutics and functional nanocomposites.

We are designing potent inhibitors of anthrax toxin based on the concept of polyvalency – the simultaneous binding of multiple ligands on one biological entity to multiple receptors on another. Since the major symptoms and death from anthrax are due primarily to the action of anthrax toxin, the toxin is a prime target for therapeutic intervention. We will describe the design and characterization of polyvalent inhibitors that are several orders of magnitude more potent than the corresponding monovalent inhibitors and can neutralize anthrax toxin in vivo . Studies relating the composition and structure of these inhibitors to their activity have shed light on fundamental aspects of polyvalent recognition, including the role of “statistical pattern matching”. We will also discuss the structure-based design of oligovalent toxin inhibitors, as well as applications of polyvalency for the recognition and inhibition of other biological targets.

We are also investigating the structure and function of biological molecules immobilized onto nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes. While it is well appreciated that interfacing biological molecules with nanomaterials can influence nanomaterial properties, we will describe how the nanoscale environment can in turn influence the activity and stability of adsorbed proteins. Furthermore, we will discuss the ability to remotely control the activity of proteins adsorbed onto carbon nanotubes. We will discuss the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon, and its use to design self-cleaning nanotube-based coatings as well as nanotube conjugates that selectively destroy anthrax toxin from a mixture of proteins. Functionalization with biomolecules also provides a method for controlling the assembly of nanomaterials. We will also discuss these and other approaches for organizing nanomaterials into macroscopic structures.

For further information please contact Prof. Christina Chan, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at krischan@egr.msu.edu

Persons with disabilities have the right to request and receive reasonable accommodation. . Please call the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at 355-5135 at least one day prior to the seminar; requests received after this date will be met when possible.