Texas Tech University System

Hongjun Liang

Guillermo A Altenberg

The present invention includes compositions, methods, and methods of making and using a nanoscale discoidal membrane comprising: an amphiphilic membrane patch comprising self-assembled molecular amphiphiles capable of supporting one or more membrane proteins in the amphiphilic membrane patch; and one or more amphipathic scaffold macromolecules that encase the nanoscale discoidal membrane.

Polymer nanodiscs for biotechnology and medical applications

The present invention includes compositions and methods of making hydrophilic nanostructured antibiotics (i.e. nanoantibiotics), including nanoantibiotics that use environmentally degradable biomolecules as the backbone building blocks, wherein the backbone building blocks can include spherical backbones such as sucroses, cyclodextrins, glycogens, and phytoglycogen with different diameters, or rod-like backbone building blocks such as dextrins, amyloses, and celluloses with different lengths. These hydrophilic nanoantibiotics with well-defined sizes and shapes can selectively disrupt bacterial membranes (i.e., serve as membrane-active antimicrobials) while being benign to mammalian cells. Depending on the size and shape difference of the hydrophilic nanoantibiotics, they can also selectively kill one type of bacteria (e.g., gram-negative) over another type (e.g., gram-positive). The environmentally degradable nanoantibiotics will have built-in dismantling 'switches' to dismantle and become antimicrobial inactive in responsive to environmental stimuli once released into natural habitat, hence greatly reducing the possibility of developing bacteria resistance.

Hydrophilic nanostructured membrane active antimicrobials with high activity, selectivity and biodegradability

The present invention includes compositions, methods, and methods of making and using a polymer-encased nanodisc comprising: one or more integral membrane proteins in a lipid layer; and a polymer comprising zwitterionic styrene-maleic acid derivative repeating units that carry zero or nearly zero negative charge, and the polymer-encased nanodiscs.

Growing community of inventors

Lubbock, TX, United States of America

Hongjun Liang