IDEA #80N0RS Generalizable approach to create solvent-free protein liquids using noncovlent chemistry.24A0024.

Key Words: Protein-based materials; protein stabilization; controlled release of therapeutic proteins; solvent-free protein liquids; solvent-free biofluids When proteins are dried (“solvent-free state”), they form brittle and solid powders. Our invention allows us to convert solvent-free proteins into liquids with tunable properties in a process that is extremely simple and generalizable. Our advance has utility on multiple fronts. 1) It can be used to stabilize therapeutic proteins at high temperatures (up to at least 90°C), which could eliminate the reliance on refrigeration for protein-based medicines; 2) it can allow us to fabricate protein-based materials at elevated temperatures using solvent-free processes like extrusion, which will make protein-based materials much cheaper and thus much more commercially viable (potentially leading to sustainable plastics and other functional materials); 3) It can allow proteins to carry out functions (like catalysis, gas binding/transport, etc) in extreme conditions—such as extreme cold (<0°C) or hot (> 60°C) temperatures—which should be useful for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries (among others) to carry out new protein-catalyzed reactions or improve the efficiencies of existing ones.