Our research group mainly works on the synthesis of peptide and derivatives for various applications:
Organic Electronics
By introducing artificial amino acids bearing various aromatic rings into cyclic dipeptides, peptide hydrogels are obtained upon self assembly in aqueous medium. Conductivity of these gels are measured by Dr. Gökhan Bakan (Atılım Uni.) (TÜBİTAK-118Z403)
Drug Delivery
Recently, we developed that simple tyrosine derivatives are outstanding low-molecular weight organogelator in various organic liquids, including thinner, diesel, oils and solvents (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41142-z). Based on the molecular dynamics simulation studies that are performed by Dr. Antoine Marion on tyrosine derivative, we have envisioned that certain other amino acid derivatives could also act as low molecular weight organogelator. Currently, we are testing various amino acid derivatives for their gelation capability and application in drug delivery.
Enzyme Mimics
Short peptides are commonly used in enzyme-inspired biocatalyst studies, and self-assembling peptide sequences are especially preferred due to their ability to recapitulate the protein folding process.
We are currently working on fullerene-amino acid derivatives that are capable of mimicking enzyme through self-assembly. Our first results showed excellent enzymatic activity as esterase on p-nitrophenolacetate which is a very typical substrate used in enzyme mimics. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.1c11516
Moreover, we are working on the mimick of an interesting sacrificial enzyme called LarE, as a collaborative work with Dr. Antoine Marioin (TÜBİTAK-118Z921).
Sensors
Previously, we showed that peptide-monomer conjugates can be used in the covalent immobilisation and biosensor application of glucose oxidase enzymes upon polymerisation on carbon electrodes (https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2017/TB/C7TB01674C).
Currently, we are applying similar strategy to get lead and cadmium sensors based on peptides as a collaborative work with Prof.Dr. Levent Toppare and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saniye Söylemez
Catalysis
Amino acid-fullerenes conjugates are being investigated as recyclable organocatalyst for CO2 fixation. They seem to be an excellent catalyst in the conversion of epoxides into cyclic carbonates using iodide as co-catalyst.