Here we present our efforts toward the discovery of protein-like structures with novel functions. We have developed a platform that enables the discovery of synthetic polymers with protein-like structures and functions that are engineered to perform in a wide range of environments. We refer to these compounds as xenoproteins. We design xenoproteins to be stable to extreme temperatures (both hot and cold) and resistant to natural proteases. Structurally, we design these species to feature tunable and well-defined three-dimensional topologies with chemically adjustable properties and on-demand control using selective chemical stimuli. We have developed a discovery engine called RapidX9 (Rapid discovery of xenoproteins from 109 member libraries) to discover functional xenoproteins. Thus far, we have focused our efforts on the discovery of xenobodies (xenoprotein binders) that have high affinity toward Ebola glycoprotein and antibodies.

Synthetic polymer xenoproteins

256th National Meeting (2018)

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