Developing robust, scaleable and mechanically defined building blocks for diverse protein hydrogels

Protein hydrogels (cross-linked proteins forming a self supporting hydrated network) have diverse applications that for medicine include drug delivery, tissue engineering and wound healing. The functionality of protein hydrogels can be hugely extended beyond that of passive scaffold if made from folded proteins, opening the door to signalling, catalysis and triggered conformation changes in micro-environments. However, making such gels is challenging because proteins vary in their stability, ability to cross-link and the material properties of the hydrogel. To address this issue, we will design, test and refine a series of stable and highly expressible protein building blocks with a range of material properties to be used as supporting scaffolds into which functional proteins can introduced. The project will incorporate protein design and optimisation using directed evolution and mutational scanning, followed by characterisation of thermodynamic stability and hydrogel material properties using a range of rheological, imaging and scattering methods.