Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are thermo-responsive biopolymers whose primary sequence is derived from a natural extracellular matrix protein (elastin). Genetically-engineered and produced recombinantly in heterologous hosts (typically Escherichia coli bacteria to ensure reasonable production yields), they are perfectly monodisperse macromolecules. Although powerful to yield ELPs with exact primary structures and lengths, protein engineering techniques present however some limitations, in particular limited chemical diversity due to few possible post-translational modifications in E. coli bacteria.
My research activities are therefore dedicated to exploring a dual biotechnological and chemical approach, combining recombinant biosynthesis of ELPs in E. coli with orthogonal chemical bioconjugation methods to enlarge the diversity of relevant ELP-based macromolecules and self-assemblies thereof for biomimetic, and biomedical applications (e.g., tissue engineering, nanomedicine).
My presentation will provide an overview of these works and detail a few selected examples in these different fields.