Supramolecular interactions between proteins and bioadhesive nanoparticles

今年，我研究了由GroEL和金纳米颗粒（AuNPs）形成的多孔簇，以及dna功能化GroEL的橄榄球自组装。在项目i)中，我确认了聚簇的atp酶活性，并通过TEM、低温TEM和低温电镜断层扫描分析了聚簇的多孔性。这种定量方法证实，簇中有离散数量的GroEL连接aunp，正如设计的那样。利用不同的聚合物-蛋白质杂交种作为客体，通过客体加载研究探讨了多孔性。这表明该簇可以容纳几十纳米大小的来宾，来宾流体动力学直径限制在45纳米左右。客体聚合物构象对负载影响的实验正在进行中。在项目ii)中，我研究了各种核苷酸和类似物，DNA序列和盐条件在橄榄球形成中的作用。这使人们对促进增长的重要因素有了全面的了解，并为大会提出的机制提供了支持。我确定了GroEL单元在结构中的排列及其各向异性。目前的实验目标是确定结构是否空心。

This year I worked on i) porous clusters formed by GroEL and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), and ii) rugby ball self-assembly of DNA-functionalized GroEL.In project i) I confirmed the ATPase activity of the clusters and analyzed the porous nature of the clusters by TEM, cryo TEM, and cryo-EM tomography. This quantitative approach confirmed that the clusters had discrete numbers of GroEL connecting AuNPs, as designed. The porous nature was also probed by guest loading studies, using various polymer-protein hybrids as guest species. This indicated that the cluster can accommodate guests on the order of several tens of nanometers in size, with a guest hydrodynamic diameter limit of around 45 nm. Experiments on the effect of guest polymer conformation on loading are ongoing.In project ii) I studied the roles of various nucleotides and analogues, DNA sequence, and salt conditions in the rugby ball formation. This gave a complete understanding of the important factors for growth and supported a proposed mechanism for the assembly. I identified the alignment of GroEL units in the structure and its anisotropic nature. Current experiments are targeted to identify whether the structure is hollow.