Structure of a designed protein cage that self-assembles into a highly porous cube
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics
- Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom). Dept of Chemistry
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)
- Scripps Research Inst., La Jolla, FL (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Scripps Research Inst., La Jolla, FL (United States)
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics; Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). California Nanosystems Institute
Natural proteins can be versatile building blocks for multimeric, self-assembling structures. Yet, creating protein-based assemblies with specific geometries and chemical properties remains challenging. Highly porous materials represent particularly interesting targets for designed assembly. Here we utilize a strategy of fusing two natural protein oligomers using a continuous alpha-helical linker to design a novel protein that self assembles into a 750 kDa, 225 Å diameter, cube-shaped cage with large openings into a 130 Å diameter inner cavity. A crystal structure of the cage showed atomic level agreement with the designed model, while electron microscopy, native mass spectrometry, and small angle x-ray scattering revealed alternate assembly forms in solution. These studies show that accurate design of large porous assemblies with specific shapes is feasible, while further specificity improvements will likely require limiting flexibility to select against alternative forms. Finally, these results provide a foundation for the design of advanced materials with applications in bionanotechnology, nanomedicine and material sciences.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231; CHE-1332907; R01GM067167
- OSTI ID:
- 1164570
- Journal Information:
- Nature Chemistry, Vol. 6, Issue 12; ISSN 1755-4330
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- ENGLISH
Web of Science
Similar Records
Design and structure of two new protein cages illustrate successes and ongoing challenges in protein engineering
An Aluminum-Based Metal–Organic Cage for Cesium Capture