Nucleation of protein mesocrystals via oriented attachment.

ABSTRACT: Self-assembly of proteins holds great promise for the bottom-up design and production of synthetic biomaterials. In conventional approaches, designer proteins are pre-programmed with specific recognition sites that drive the association process towards a desired organized state. Although proven effective, this approach poses restrictions on the complexity and material properties of the end-state. An alternative, hierarchical approach that has found wide adoption for inorganic systems, relies on the production of crystalline nanoparticles that become the building blocks of a next-level assembly process driven by oriented attachment (OA). As it stands, OA has not yet been observed for protein systems. Here we employ cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryoEM) in the high nucleation rate l

SUBMITTER: Van Driessche AES 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8222410 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature