BISON - Bio-Inspired Self-Assembled Supramolecular Organic Nanostructures

The overall objective of the Bio-Inspired Self-Assembled Supramolecular Organic Nanostructures (BISON) project is directed toward the development and characterization of novel classes of bio-inspired peptide nanostructures, as a paradigm for the way by which very simple organic building blocks can utilize biological recognition modules to form well-ordered structures at the nano-scale and as novel structural families for various technological applications.

 

Following our extensive studies on the self-assembly and unique physical and chemical properties of short aromatic dipeptides, we would like to extend our research activities for the production of an innovative, second generation aromatic peptide nucleic acid (PNA) and super-helical peptide assemblies, which could be used for the fabrication of complex hierarchical structures at the nano-scale.

 

The various classes of nanostructures that are being developed by our group vividly demonstrate the ability to exploit the molecular recognition and assembly in natural biological systems for the development of technological tools. The outcomes of the proposed research should represent a key step in the realization of bio-inspired organic nanotechnology as a major branch of the emerging fields of nano-science and nanotechnology.