Engineering Thermoresponsive Resilin–Coiled Coil Fusion Proteins for Programmable Self-Assembly

• Lisandro Herrera Galvez, Biochemistry, California State University Dominguez Hills
• Ana Maria Mosquera Rodriguez, Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware

• April Kloxin, Biochemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware
• Kristi Kiick, Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware

Genetically engineered resilin-like polypeptides (RLPs) of different lengths are being fused to computationally designed coiled coil-forming peptides using recombinant DNA technology to create temperature-responsive biomaterials with programmable assembly. Expression in E. coli, followed by purification, was confirmed through SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) turbidimetry are planned to assess whether the coiled coil structure remains stable within the RLP fusion constructs and to evaluate whether the thermoresponsive phase behavior of the RLP domains is retained. This work sets the stage for the biosynthesis of responsive nanomaterials for a range of applications.