Design of Functional Bionanomaterials

Building on our mechanistic understanding of peptide self-assembly and interfacial interactions, we engineer functional bionanomaterials. Our work includes peptide fibrils as well as hybrid systems combining peptides with nucleic acids, such as DNA origami, to create materials with defined structure and emergent function. These systems are explored for applications in areas including biosensing, targeted delivery, and modulation of cell-material interactions, while remaining closely connected to fundamental questions in biophysical chemistry.

Related Publications

^{Nico Alleva, Jian Zhang, David Y. W. Ng, Tanja Weil, Torsten John (2026). Functionalizing Nucleic Acids: Synthesis and Purification Strategies for Bioconjugates as Biomaterials. Small. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202510863}

^{Albin Lahu, Shao‐Lin Wu, Maximilian Schuler, Francesca Mazzotta, Ardit Ramadani, Emirhan Koca, Ingo Lieberwirth, Katharina Landfester, Torsten John, David Y. W. Ng, Tanja Weil (2026). Co‐Assemblies Regulate the Catalytic Activity of Peptide Fibrils. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202511165}

^{Yu-Liang Tsai, Primiana Cavallo, Qi Lu, Jiyao Yu, Christopher P Ender, Julian Link, Katrin Amann-Winkel, Kristina Endres, Christopher V Synatschke, Torsten John (2025). Design of the Hydrophobic Core of Self-Assembling Peptide Fibrils for Enhanced Neural Regeneration. Small Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/smsc.202500224}

^{Manuel Hayn, Torsten John, Juhaina Bandak, Lena Rauch‐Wirth, Bernd Abel, Jan Münch (2024). Hybrid Materials From Peptide Nanofibrils and Magnetic Beads to Concentrate and Isolate Virus Particles. Advanced Functional Materials. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202316260}

^{Jeffrey Gorman, Stephanie M Hart, Torsten John, Maria A Castellanos, Dvir Harris, Molly F Parsons, James L Banal, Adam P Willard, Gabriela S Schlau-Cohen, Mark Bathe (2024). Sculpting photoproducts with DNA origami. Chem. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chempr.2024.03.007}

^{Xiao Wang, Shanshan Li, Hyungmin Jun, Torsten John, Kaiming Zhang, Hannah Fowler, Jonathan PK Doye, Wah Chiu, Mark Bathe (2022). Planar 2D wireframe DNA origami. Science Advances. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn0039}

^{Hyungmin Jun, Xiao Wang, Molly F Parsons, William P Bricker, Torsten John, Shanshan Li, Steve Jackson, Wah Chiu, Mark Bathe (2021). Rapid prototyping of arbitrary 2D and 3D wireframe DNA origami. Nucleic Acids Research. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkab762}