Klaus Jandt: From blood protein to high-tech material

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At the University of Jena, materials scientist Klaus Jandt conducts research into new nanomaterials. Throughout his work, nature serves as his primary inspiration. Source: Foto: Jan-Peter Kasper/FSU Jena

02.10.2014  - 

Biocompatible, environmentally friendly and universal – these are the kinds of high expectations placed on materials today. For materials scientist Klaus Jandt, nature will always be best role model. At the University of Jena in Thuringia, the physicist studies the structures of natural materials – both to understand them better and to reconstruct their interesting properties. In the course of his work, he has focused on the protein molecule fibrinogen, which is present in plasma and is crucial for blood clotting. Jandt and his team have already demonstrated the suitability of the molecule for the production of new nanomaterials. In a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the native of Hamburg is now investigating the nature of the formation of these protein nanofibres. The work could lay the foundations for new forms of implant as well as synthetic bone and cartilage that closely resemble their natural counterparts.

From an early age, future physicist Klaus Jandt took a keen interest in nature and technology. Born and raised in Hamburg, he also went on to attend the local university, where he studied physics, biophysics, astronomy and mathematics. “As far as my research goes, I was inspired by the teachers of my teachers,” says Jandt. Among others, it was the ‘academic grandfathers’ of Herbert Gleiter and Erhard Hornbogen – both also materials scientists and physicists – who piqued his excitement for his field. “I was inspired by the realisation that materials significantly change their properties when we make them smaller.” In 1993, the physicist completed his doctoral studies in the field of materials science of polymers and metals at the Technical University of Hamburg, before heading off to the USA to continue his learning. Edward Kramer, his mentor at New York Cornell University, introduced the budding scientist – who had by this time won a prestigious endowment from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation – to the world of copolymers and complex macromolecules. The groundwork for his eventual combination of materials sciences and life sciences was laid during his subsequent placement in the University of Bristol in southwest England, where Jandt had his first proper encounter with fibrinogen. This supermolecule would go on to shape a major part of his future working life.

Reverse-engineering nature
“Fibrinogen is a fascinating molecule. It can polymerise into fibrin and form a network. It’s a part of the complicated process of blood coagulation and, among other things, plays a role in the innate immune system,” describes Jandt. There are billions of examples of this natural product in our blood, where it ensures that bleeding injuries are quickly halted and that the wound eventually heals. Thereby, the healing process is highly complex. If a fibrinogen molecule comes into contact with the wound edges, it changes via a cascading process, incorporating a number of different factors in the body. It then begins to form a network with other fibrinogen molecules – creating fibrin. The resulting network constricts the wound edges and closes the wound. This process gives rise to the familiar knobbly red scabs, which are so important for the healing of the injury. The researchers are now attempting to artificially duplicate this natural chain of events. In early 2002, as a newly appointed Professor, Jandt moved with his wife from Bristol to Thüringen in the east of Germany. Since then he has headed the Department of Materials Science at the Otto Schott Institute for Materials Research, a part of Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. In parallel to his teaching and as an active member of the Jena School of Microbial Communication (JSMC), one of the DFG-funded excellence graduate schools, he also conducts research into antimicrobial materials that can help reduce material-related infections, such as can occur following an implantation.

New high-tech material of fibrinogen
Aided by the protein molecule fibrinogen, Jandt and his team have succeeded in creating new nanofibres that are entirely based on natural materials. The trick: The researchers first dissolve the fibrinogen in water and then apply a mild acid or diluted alcohol solution. The protein molecules then self-assemble into long nanofibres with a diameter of only 50 nanometers – finer than human hair by a factor of 1,000. In 2012, the now 53-year-old was awarded the Thuringian Research Award for Applied Research for his work on the protein molecule fibrinogen. Today, the Jena-based fibrinogen researchers are faced with the mystery of how the protein nanofibres are able to assemble without the many factors usually present in the body. Jandt and his team of material researchers hope to have this question answered in the next two years. “Later, we hope to build ordered and larger superstructures using these fibres, and then see if the subsequent nanofibre scaffold is suitable for use in tissue engineering, and whether the nanofibres are tolerated by cells.” The first results have been encouraging, says Klaus Jandt. The DFG is supporting his research project with a total of 160,000 euros.

From the nano to the macro
“Nature is based on various levels of hierarchical structure. Step by step, we want to move from the nano level to a finished implant of a material that is similar in structure to natural tissue,” is Jandt’s vision. The fibrinogen nanofibres mean that Jandt and his team have a universal protein block that can be combined with carbon nanotubes, in order to construct functional systems, for example. Materials made with fibrinogen nanofibres could be used in biophotonic probes, for the tissue engineering of hip or knee implants, for biosensors for the measurement of blood glucose, or for high-strength fibres for vehicles, among other applications. For now, this is all a long way off, and there is much work to be done. Jandt is optimistic: “As Lao-tzu said, every long journey begins with a small step. We’ve already taken a few steps, and are hoping to keep going.”

Author: Beatrix Boldt