UCLA

Over the early 21st century, structural biology has laid a robust foundation for our understanding of protein molecules. The atomic principles of their structure, how their sequence specifies such a structure, and conversely, how to enumerate an amino acid sequence to adopt a fold, are problems each closer to solved than not. Once the domain of material science and chemistry, materials of various shapes and sizes can now be made out of protein precursors. Designed protein building blocks have been synthesized that self-assemble into tetrahedral, octahedral, and icosahedral molecular cages, as well as infinitely ordered lattices such as two dimensional layers and three dimensional crystals. This thesis provides descriptions used to both create and apply protein nanomaterials towards the study of biochemical phenomenon. Particular interest is given to methods of searching for native like contacts and emulating their assembly into defined quaternary structures. By taking inspiration from nature and utilizing hypothesis driven symmetric materials engineering, I demonstrate the creation of proteins which form new materials in the laboratory and methods to engineer existing materials, including a high resolution imaging scaffold. These advances remove barriers to nanomaterials development and deepen the understanding of protein molecules.