Proteins are known to have diverse biomedical functions and excellent catalytic performance; however, they are also fragile outside living cells, challenging their use in industrial applications. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly porous crystalline materials that consist of metal cluster nodes and organic linkers. With their rigid structures, MOFs effectively can prevent structural changes of proteins after encapsulation and further increase the protein's stability under different conditions. Also, the growth of MOF crystals can be controlled within the nano regime during synthesis, and the drug delivery of proteins via MOF nano carriers can be realized. Importantly, the high surface areas and tunability of MOFs give rise to many possible structures which can achieve high protein loading capacities as well as concentrate the substrate to enhance reaction rates. Therefore, my research focuses on the encapsulation of proteins with MOFs to enhance the molecular stability of a protein in denaturing conditions which occur during the therapeutic protein delivery process thereby increasing the rate of enzymatic reactions. So far, I discovered that the Zr-based MOF, NU-1000, successfully protects insulin from the degradation in stomach acid while releasing insulin in simulated blood environment. I also successfully synthesized nano-sized NU-1000 that can be brought into the cells through endocytosis. My future work will focus on synthesizing bio-compatible MOFs as candidates for nontoxic nano drug carriers and investigating the functions of MOFs to realize triggered release of proteins within the body.

Metal-organic frameworks for protein stabilization

2019 Spring National Meeting

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