Home Department: undeclared
Mentor: Danielle Mai (Chemical Engineering)

“Logic-Gated Self-Assembly of Protein Biomaterials”

Gene replacement therapies aim to correct genetic disorders by introducing modified genes into cells. However, these modified “non-self” cells often provoke adverse immune responses, which are mitigated using potentially harmful immunosuppressants. The lab seeks to avoid these side effects by engineering non-immunogenic recombinant proteins known as elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) to protect genetically modified cells: ELPs could self-assemble into protective coatings that shield these cells from the immune system. The lab recently demonstrated that a biological stimulus (enzyme) can induce self-assembly. This summer, Ally will engineer ELPs that undergo logic-based self-assembly in response to multiple enzymes, increasing our ability to precisely control ELP properties in complex engineered in vivo environments.