NJIT Physics Department Seminar

March 28th, Monday, 2016

Peptide Self-Assembly: From Dysfunction to Function

Prof. Bradley Nilsson

Univ. of Rochester, NY

(Biophysics, Host: Dias)

Time: 11:45am-12:45pm with 11:30am tea time

Room: ECE 202

Abstract:

The self-assembly of peptides and proteins into cross- amyloid structures is a defining characteristic of amyloid pathologies including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes, and prion encephalopathies. Amyloid protein assemblies are not limited to pathological conditions, but also exist as evolutionarily conserved motifs with defined biological function. There is growing interest in exploiting peptide self-assembly phenomena for the development of novel functional structures with applications in biomedicine, energy, and materials. This talk details work in the Nilsson group focused on understanding the noncovalent interactions that drive peptide self-assembly in order to facilitate novel approaches to perturb and control these processes and to exploit these interactions to enable new strategies for the noncovalent synthesis of functional and dynamic self-assembled materials. Progress in two related areas will be discussed: 1) the characterization of physicochemical parameters that give rise to protein aggregation and fibril formation, with a focus on the Alzheimer’s disease amyloid- peptide and other self-assembling peptides; 2) the development of materials derived from self-assembling peptides for use as anti-HIV microbicides.