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A Minimalist Peptide Elastomer

Objective

The MINIRES project aims at developing and bringing to the market a revolutionary bioelastomer material based on a novel strategy of structural modification of a “minimalist” peptide sequence derived from Resilin (Res), i.e. a polymeric rubber-like natural protein with outstanding elasticity, critical in the flight and jumping systems of insects. In the course of the ERC funded Starting Grant FOLDHALO (grant agreement no. 307108), I focused on the modification of a repeat sequence of the Exon-1 (~320 amino acids) of Res. We found that a biomimetic chemical modification of this sequence (i.e. halogenation) induces the emergence of elastomeric properties resembling those of the full-length Res protein. This is surprising for such a short peptide, and the unmodified peptide, in fact, does not show such properties. Halogenation determines a huge change in the material properties due to the induced physical (supramolecular) cross-linking of the peptide chains. The main advantage of the novel “minimalist” bioelastomer that we developed lies in its chemical and structural simplicity. This simplicity allows foreseeing easy industrial scalability at low costs, trivial processing, either as pure compound or component of elastomeric formulations, as well as possibility of further chemical and structural modifications (opening up a family of small elastomeric peptides). Expected outcomes of the MINIRES project are to perform a technical and commercial feasibility study to move the developed “minimalist” bioelastomer from the lab to the market. In particular, within the MINIRES project, we intend to accelerate the maturity level of this technology, by technically validating it, as well as scouting market opportunities and setting up a suitable exploitation strategy (licensing vs. start-up creation) for valorizing the patent that has being deposited.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2017-PoC

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Host institution

POLITECNICO DI MILANO
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 150 000,00
Address
PIAZZA LEONARDO DA VINCI 32
20133 Milano
Italy

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Region
Nord-Ovest Lombardia Milano
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 150 000,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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