Home Institute: DWI Leibniz-Institut für interaktive Materialien EV, Germany
Main supervisor: Ulrich Schwaneberg
Co-Supervisors: Andrea Mattevi (UNIPV) and
Maximilian Nöth (AP)
Required academic background: -

This project will focus on polyamide-binding peptides’ site saturation mutagenesis library (44 amino acids). These activities will rely on computer‐assisted recombination (CompassR) methods for selecting beneficial mutant combinations that can be recombined to gradually improve peptide performance by analysis of the relative binding free energy. Nylon-peptide binding will be experimentally analyzed by QCM-D (quartz crystal microbalance with energy dissipation measurement). The surface coverage of three main nylon polymers will be characterized by surface plasmon resonance (SPR). This will be followed by the experiments aiming at the fusion of selected recombined variants with the selected amidase (https://pazy.eu/) using one stiff and one flexible linker. Nylon degradation kinetics will be determined by implementing the designed nylonase variants.

Objectives:

  • Developing a site saturation mutagenesis library of polyamide-binding peptides.
  • Experimental analysis and characterization of the developed polyamide-binding peptide.
  • Characterization of surface coverage of the main nylon polymers.
  • Optimization of the polyamide degradation properties.

Expected results:

  • Understanding of the polyamide-binding mechanisms.
  • Novel polyamide-binding peptides to facilitate polyamide degradation.
  • Hitherto-unexplored knowledge of the nylon degradation kinetics through the application of nylonase variants.