EAGER: (ST2) Integrating synthetic genetic regulatory networks into soft materials to orchestrate new forms of mechanical responsiveness

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

Non-technical Description: This proposal aims to develop an adhesive (sticky) gel in which a chemical reaction senses mechanical force applied to the gel and, in response, alter the adhesive layer of a material to make it easier to peel or remove from the surface onto which it is bonded. One goal of developing this new method is to create a new means of easily removing adhesives on delicate tissues, such as those used for bandages, without damaging the material the adhesive is stuck to, such as skin. Inspired by discussions at the NSF-sponsored Square Table-2 meeting about how the development of materials might be advanced by incorporating ideas from synthetic biology, this project brings together two disparate fields, the study of adhesives and synthetic biology, to advance and directly improve our capabilities to create and understand medical adhesives. This project provides multi-disciplinary training for 2 graduate students and 4 undergraduate students and integrates new findings generated during the research into core and elective chemical and biomolecular engineering courses. Short courses at professional societies and to art students presented by the principal investigators about this research are designed to foment interest in these approaches to material design outside the science and engineering communities. Technical Description: This project investigates how embedded molecular force sensors in hydrogels can be employed to modulate adhesion. The strategy employed by the team involves developing molecular force sensors that change conformation and expose a specific chemical domain when a predetermined amount of compression is applied to the hydrogel. The exposed domain can then interact with mobile chemical elements (such as enzymes or nucleic acid complexes) to initiate a downstream chemical cascade that leads to debonding, and ultimately to delamination. The research combines materials design, photopatterning, biomolecular conjugation, and characterization in order to obtain a new form of mechanical responsiveness and to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms behind hydrogel adhesion. Moreover, this work lays the groundwork for a new class of biomaterials in which arbitrary and complex stimuli and arbitrary and complex responses are orchestrated by molecular sensors and actuators and molecular circuits embedded within the biomaterial itself. This Division of Materials Research (DMR) grant supports research to integrate synthetic genetic regulatory networks into soft materials to orchestrate new forms of mechanical responsiveness managed by the Condensed Matter Physics (CMP) Program in DMR of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) Directorate. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.