New Publication in Nature Chemistry
Huc_NatChem
How can synthetic molecules be used to organize proteins with molecular precision? In collaboration with the Huc group at LMU Munich, Niklas and Nicklas have contributed to the design of hybrid foldamer–protein architectures.
News from Aug 17, 2026
By combining a helical aromatic foldamer with a small engineered protein identified through ribosome display selection, we established a stable, well-defined interface between a synthetic molecule and a protein. This supramolecular “synthon” can be used to organize proteins and foldamers into discrete assemblies, including architectures in which proteins are positioned at precise distances, as well as crystalline structures forming cyclic and extended arrays. The work demonstrates the potential of aromatic foldamers as modular scaffolds for controlling protein organization and opens new avenues for designing hybrid materials that combine the structural complexity of proteins with the tunability of synthetic molecules.
