Publication Date:
2015-09-04
Description:
Biomolecular self-assemblies are of great interest to nanotechnologists because of their functional versatility and their biocompatibility. Over the past decade, sophisticated single-component nanostructures composed exclusively of nucleic acids, peptides and proteins have been reported, and these nanostructures have been used in a wide range of applications, from drug delivery to molecular computing. Despite these successes, the development of hybrid co-assemblies of nucleic acids and proteins has remained elusive. Here we use computational protein design to create a protein-DNA co-assembling nanomaterial whose assembly is driven via non-covalent interactions. To achieve this, a homodimerization interface is engineered onto the Drosophila Engrailed homeodomain (ENH), allowing the dimerized protein complex to bind to two double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) molecules. By varying the arrangement of protein-binding sites on the dsDNA, an irregular bulk nanoparticle or a nanowire with single-molecule width can be spontaneously formed by mixing the protein and dsDNA building blocks. We characterize the protein-DNA nanowire using fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy and X-ray crystallography, confirming that the nanowire is formed via the proposed mechanism. This work lays the foundation for the development of new classes of protein-DNA hybrid materials. Further applications can be explored by incorporating DNA origami, DNA aptamers and/or peptide epitopes into the protein-DNA framework presented here.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Mou, Yun -- Yu, Jiun-Yann -- Wannier, Timothy M -- Guo, Chin-Lin -- Mayo, Stephen L -- England -- Nature. 2015 Sep 10;525(7568):230-3. doi: 10.1038/nature14874. Epub 2015 Sep 2.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA. ; Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA. ; Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26331548" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Binding Sites
;
*Computer Simulation
;
Crystallization
;
Crystallography, X-Ray
;
DNA/*chemistry
;
*Drug Design
;
Homeodomain Proteins/chemistry/genetics/metabolism
;
Microscopy, Atomic Force
;
Microscopy, Fluorescence
;
Models, Molecular
;
Nanotechnology
;
Nanowires/*chemistry
;
Protein Multimerization
;
Transcription Factors/chemistry/genetics/metabolism
Print ISSN:
0028-0836
Electronic ISSN:
1476-4687
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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