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Ameera's Project Page - RISE Summer 2008 |
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Intern: Ameera Haamid, Chemistry, Jackson State University
Mentor: Rachel Marullo and Amanda Trent
Faculty Supervisor: Matthew Tirrell
Department: Chemical Engineering |
EXAMINING THE FORMATION OF PEPTIDE AMPHIPHILE MICELLES
Amphiphilic molecules form micelles when introduced into an aqueous environment. A micelle structure consists of
hydrophobic tails at the core of the structure with hydrophilic peptide groups as the shell. Pharmaceuticals and
biologics can be protected from absorption within the core of the micelle and the peptide itself can be used as a
therapeutic making these peptide amphiphilic micelles ideal objects for drug delivery. When micelles are created
they form either spherical or cylindrical shapes. The micelle shape is critical in drug delivery because smaller
spherical micelles may pass through membranes, whereas larger cylindrical micelles may be ideal for tissue binding.
This project aims to find the cause of the formation of micelle spheres versus micelle cylinders. This is done by
using various sequences of peptide chains and hydrophobic tails to determine if either groups persuade the micelle to
form a certain shape. The peptides are characterized using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography
(HPLC), mass spectrometry, and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Currently, data shows that C10(GSS)4 and
C16P4(GSS)4 forms a cylindrical micelle. Future work consists of characterizing and comparing more micelles and
then introducing these structures into a physiological setting. Measuring the stability of these different micelles is a
critical factor in drug delivery.
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