Encapsulation of a Biomolecule in a Hollow of a Self-Assembled Metal-Organic Complex

一个人工的，定义明确的球形分子是由72个直径为几纳米的积木自组装而成的。72个组分的数量是世界上最多的，庞大的分子结构被清晰地确定下来。由于成分众多，该复合物非常稳定，我们成功地将生物分子连接到球形骨架上。大尺寸的自组装球是非常原始和有吸引力的：（1）在球内封装一种蛋白质，（2）肽链的分离，（3）用DNA进行表面修饰，以显示由于其特征分子结构而产生的功能。

An artificial, well-defined spherical molecules were self-assembled from 72 building blocks with the diameter of several nanometers. The number of components, 72, was the world largest number, and the huge molecular structure was clearly determined. The complex was very stable because of the large number of components, and we succeeded to link biomolecules to the spherical skeleton. The large size of the self-assembled spheres is very original and attractive : (1) an encapsulation of one protein inside the sphere, (2) decollation of peptide chains, and (3) surface modification with DNA were achieved to show functions due to their characteristic molecular structures.