Carnegie Mellon Chemists Create Nanofibers Using Unprecedented New Method

Press Release: Carnegie Mellon Chemists Create Nanofibers Using Unprecedented New Method-Carnegie Mellon News - Carnegie Mellon University. Jocelyn Duffy / 412-268-9982 / jhduffy [a] andrew.cmu (p) edu PITTSBURGH—Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have developed a novel method for creating self-assembled protein/polymer nanostructures that are reminiscent of fibers found in living cells. The work offers a promising new way to fabricate materials for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. "We have demonstrated that, by adding flexible linkers to protein molecules, we can form completely new types of aggregates. These aggregates can act as a structural material to which you can attach different payloads, such as drugs. In nature, this protein isn't close to being a structural material," said Tomasz Kowalewski , professor of chemistry in Carnegie Mellon's Mellon College of Science. The building blocks of the fibers are a few modified green fluorescent protein (GFP) molecules linked together using a process called click chemistry.