Report Title: Synthesis and Applications of polypeptides 

Reported by: Professor Cheng Jianjun WestLake University

Report time: 18:30-20:00 on September 1, Tencent meeting: 930-830-157

Link: https://meeting.tencent.com/dm/aW84WpqzfY1V

Host: Yu Deng Guang Song Wenliang

Synthesis and Applications of polypeptides  

Jianjun Cheng

Division of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Westlake University  

Abstract:

Ribozymes synthesize proteins in a highly regulated local environment to minimize side reactions caused by various competing species. In contrast, it is challenging to prepare synthetic polypeptides from the polymerization of N-carboxyanhydrides (NCAs) in the presence of water and impurities, which induce monomer degradations and chain terminations, respectively. Inspired by natural protein synthesis, I will report our recent studies for the preparation of well-defined polypeptides in the presence of competing species, by using a water/dichloromethane biphasic system with macroinitiators anchored at the interface. The impurities are extracted into the aqueous phase in situ, and the localized macroinitiators allow for NCA polymerization at a rate which outpaces water-induced side reactions. I will also present our work on the applications of the polypeptides in gene delivery and cell membrane penetration.