Holland Lab Publishes new Spider Silk Paper in Advanced Functional Materials (w/Cover Art!)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.202170090 ...
Read Morehttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.202170090 ...
Read MoreA DOD-funded postdoctoral position is available at San Diego State University in the general area of exploring atomic and molecular level structure and dynamics in spider silk proteins with solution and solid-state NMR together with cryo-TEM and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Developing a fundamental understanding of how spider silk proteins assemble into high performance biomaterials will impact applications in the defense, medical and space exploration sectors. The biochemical transformation processes that take place to synthesize protein-based materials remains a complicated problem with numerous unanswered questions. These structural evolutions are mostly unexplored due to the lack of combined experimental data that can link the atomic, molecular and meso- length scales. The aim of this research is to harness recent advances in magnetic resonance, cryo-TEM and simulation to develop models for the transformation of soluble silk proteins to materials that out-perform man-made systems. The successful applicant will become part of a large multi-university team to investigate and characterize spider silk structural biology from solution through the solid, fibrous material. The applicant must possess outstanding communication skills and be able to clearly communicate the scientific significance of this work to colleagues with backgrounds in theory, chemistry, biology and materials science. The applicant will be responsible for acquiring and analyzing multi-dimensional, multinuclear solution and magic angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR data of spider silk proteins. NMR data will be combined with data from cryo-TEM imaging and tomography and MD simulations to begin connecting the atomic, molecular and nanometer length scales for an improved understanding of hierarchical silk formation. Extensive image simulation with dynamic models provided by computation will be integrated into the data analysis and interpretation. Basic Qualifications: • A Ph.D. in physics, chemistry, materials science or related disciplines. • Experience in solution and MAS solid-state NMR of proteins. • Experience in analyzing NMR data with TOPSPIN, NMRPipe, Sparky, TALOS-N, CS-ROSETTA, etc. • Experience in MATLAB programming to combine and analyze data sets from multiple techniques. Preferred Qualifications: • Experience in cryo-TEM tomography of protein oligomers. • Experience in MD simulations of proteins. Contact gholland@sdsu.edu for more info. ...
Read MoreThis will provide Yuan a much needed break from her TA responsibilities this Spring to focus on her hydroxyapatite bio-nano interface project to develop bone mimetics. ...
Read MoreThis fellowship will support Dillan for the remainder of his PhD. ...
Read MoreThe AFSOR grant is for 900K to investigate the hierarchical assembly process of spider silk and natural materials in general. The focus is on understanding the molecular and nanoscale design rules for spider silk proteins using a combination of NMR and cryo-EM methods in conjunction with molecular dynamics simulations. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Nathan Gianneschi's Lab and the University of Northwestern. The ARO grant is for is 365K to study aciniform spider silk as potential system for nest generation biomaterials for the US Army. Aciniform spider silk is the toughest of the spider silks and exhibits a unique cross-linking property where the silk converts from a flexible alpha helical fiber to a cross-linked b-sheet fiber when water treated. ...
Read MoreCongratulations Haley Swanson for receiving the NASA Minority University Research Education fellowship! This fellowship is renewable for up to three years and is part of ongoing research to study origin of life chemistry....
Read MoreCongratulations to Dillan Stengel for winning the Jivan and S.C. Tong Endowed Fellowship and the Provost Award for Research Scholarship at the Student Research Symposium!...
Read MoreCongratulations to Dillan Stengel for winning the Paul G. and Margaret F. Peninger Memorial Scholarship! Also congratulations to David Onofrei who was awarded a Graduate Research Fellow at SDSU!...
Read MoreHolland Lab receives DURIP equipment Grant for: “Acquisition of a T150 Mechanical Testing System for In situ Structural Characterization of Nanoscale Animal Silks under Strain”...
Read MoreDr. Holland will be presenting his talk, “The Molecular Mechanisms of Spider Silk Assembly” at the Sheffield Silk Conference in the UK on July 26th....
Read MoreHolland Lab receives Course Redesign with Technology Grant to “Redesign General Chemistry, CHEM-200”...
Read MoreHolland Lab receives CSUPERB Grant on a Faculty-Student Collaborative Research titled “Molecular and Hierarchical Structures Formed by Spider Silk Proteins”...
Read MoreHolland Lab receives AFOSR Grant to investigate “The Molecular Mechanisms Responsible for the Assembly of Spider Silk Fibers”...
Read MoreCongratulations to Geri Polido who has completed her Master’s of Chemistry from SDSU. Her thesis, titled, “Investigation the Interactions Between Spider Venom Toxins and Lipid Bilayers” is pending publication....
Read MoreCongratulations to high school students Jason Provol and Matt Bronars for their poster presentation “Metabalomic Analysis as a Method for Breast Cancer Diagnosis”, presented at the San Diego State Science Fair. They won top awards and the opportunity to represent San Diego at the Intel International High School Science Fair hosted in LA in July....
Read MoreMahsa Pahlavanwill be presenting a poster titled, “Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Spider Silk Mini Spidroin Peptide Mimics”...
Read MoreDavid Onofrei will be presenting a poster titled “Probing Silk Protein Oligomeric Assemblies in Spider Silk with NMR Diffusion Measurements and Cryo-EM” at the CSUPERB Biotechnology Symposium on Jan 5th....
Read MoreDr. Holland will give a talk on “Molecular Mechanics of Spider Silk Assembly” as part of the National Academy of Sciences Kavli Frontiers of Science program in Malang, Indonesia. For more info visit: http://newscenter.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news_story.aspx?sid=76251 https://vimeo.com/179396251...
Read MoreThe Holland lab will be presenting at the ACS Conference in San Diego. Dr. Holland’s Talk is titled “Molecular Mechanisms of Peptide and Protein Binding at Nanostructured Interfaces.” Haley Swanson’s Poster is titled “Elucidating the Structure & Assembly of Amino Acids on Silica Nanoparticles.” David Onofrei will be presenting a poster titled, “Investigating the unique structure and physical properties of spider prey wrap silk with electron microscopy and solid-state NMR.” The Title of Geri Polido’s poster is “Investigating the Interaction of GsMTx-4 with Lipid Bilayers Using 31P Solid-State NMR, Transmission Electron Microscopy, and Thermal Analysis” Work from our collaborators will also be presented by Dr. Geoffray Leriche on his poster titled, “Cyclohexane Rings Reduce Membrane Permeability to Small Ions in Archaea-Inspired Tetraether Lipids”....
Read MoreHolland Lab receives SDSU University Grants Program (UGP) Award to investigate “Aciniform Spider Silk as a Novel Biomedical Suture Material.”...
Read MoreHolland Lab receives second SDSU Presidents Leadership Fund Award to study “Structure of Biomolecules at Nanoparticle Interfaces”...
Read MoreCongrats to Geri Polido and David Onofrei who will be presenting research posters at the Califonia State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB) Symposium. Geri’s poster is titled “Investigating the Interaction of GsMTx-4 with Lipid Bilayers Using 31P Solid-state NMR, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Thermal Analysis” David’s Poster is titled “Structural Analysis and Characterization of Glandular Spider Silk Proteins.”...
Read MoreSponsored by the American Chemical Society and many similar organizations of nations in the Pacific, the 2015 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (Pacifichem) occurs every five years. Dr. Holland will be presenting his research on biomaterials at this conference in Honolulu, Hawaii titled, “Monitoring Spider Silk Assembly in vitro with NMR”....
Read MoreHolland Lab receives DOD-AFOSR Grant to investigate “Spider’s Silk: From Protein-rich Gland Fluids to Diverse Biopolymer Fibers”...
Read MoreCongratulations to Haley Swanson who will be presenting her research poster, titled “Structural Elucidation of the Nano-Bio Interface: Histidine on Fumed Silica Nanoparticles”, at the American Chemical Society’s Western Regional Conference at CSU San Marcos. Dr. Holland will be talking on “Molecular mechanisms of biomolecule binding at nanostructured interfaces” at the ACS Regional Conference...
Read MoreGreg Holland receives Grants and Research Enterprise Writing (GREW) Fellowship...
Read MoreHolland Lab receives SDSU President’s Leadership Fund (PLF) Award to study “Molecular Structure of Spider Venom Neurotoxins and Their Interaction with the Lipid Bilayer”...
Read MoreHelping to spur interest in STEM fields early in life is an important part of our mission as researchers. In March, Dr. Holland gave a presenation at Gage Elementary in San Diego where students had the chance to see first-hand what research entails. Naturally, students were very excited by spiders shown during the presentation....
Read MoreThe Holland group won travel awards to visit Arizona State University in late March. Dr. Holland receives CSUPERB Travel Award to visit ASU and collect solid-state NMR data for Holland Lab projects. Geri, David and Haley all receive SDSU Graduate Student Travel Awards to visit ASU and collect solid-state NMR data for spider silk, spider venom neurotoxin and nanomaterial projects. March 2015. The research conducted there will help advance all the current research projects on silica nanoparticles, spider silk, and spider venom....
Read MoreGreg receives American Chemical Society (ACS) Reviewer award for 2015. This is the second year in a row Greg received this award....
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