Bioinspired Self-Assembling Catalytic Nanomaterials
Ivan Korendovych, Assistant Professor, Syracuse University
ABSTRACT
The goal of this project is to utilize controlled self-assembly of short, functionalized peptides into
well-defined structures held together through non-covalent interactions to create bioinspired
catalytic nanomaterials.
We showed that small 7-residue amyloid-forming peptides designed from the first principles
form efficient catalysts of ester hydrolysis with activity on par with those of the best small
molecule and peptide catalysts reported to date. These results provide the first demonstration of
substantial catalytic activity in simple peptide amyloids, and from a more practical perspective,
open the door to the design of highly stable, robust, and easily varied enzyme-like catalysts.
Moreover, by mixing different peptides we were able to observe synergistic interactions that
increased activity even further. The ability to screen multiple stable arrangements of functional
groups in a single fibril provides essentially limitless opportunities for high-throughput screening
for functional activity by simply mixing peptides with different sequences.
We showed that this catalytic system is capable of hydrolysis of highly challenging substrates
such as paraoxon and can be easily expanded to redox reactions activating hydrogen peroxide
and oxygen.
We expect our approach to be a tool for designing new materials capable of performing
catalysis on both natural and non-natural substrates. The ease with which we were able to
discover efficient hydrolytic catalysts suggests that this approach can be easily generalized to
other types of catalysts and chemical reactions.
BIOGRAPHY
Ivan. V. Korendovych received B.S. (1999) and M.S. (2000) degrees with distinction from
prestigious National Taras Shevchenko University of Kiev, Ukraine working in the field of
organometallic chemistry. Prof. Korendovych continued his education in the United States. His
graduate research in the lab of Prof. Elena V. Rybak-Akimova at Tufts University dealt with
investigating the mechanisms of small molecule activation and substrate recognition at the
metal centers in metalloenzyme models. After receiving his PhD in November 2006, Prof.
Korendovych joined the group of Prof. William F. DeGrado at the University of Pennsylvania
Medical School as a postdoctoral fellow working on de novo design of peptide and proteins.
In 2011 Prof. Korendovych joined the faculty in the Department of Chemistry at Syracuse
University where he has established a rigorous research program focusing on development of
bioinspired materials and protein design.
Prof. Korendovych is an author of nearly 50 research publications; he has won numerous
awards including the American Chemical Society Young Investigator Award, Ralph E. Powe
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8 Annual NYS Biotechnology Symposium
- May 19 & 20, 2016 -
Junior Faculty Award and a Humboldt Research Fellowship. He also holds an appointment in
the Department of Radiology at the Upstate Medical University.
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8 Annual NYS Biotechnology Symposium
- May 19 & 20, 2016 -