Self-Assembling Nano-Architectures Created from a Protein Nano-Building Block Using an Intermolecularly Folded Dimeric de Novo Protein. Author Naoya Kobayashi, Keiichi Yanase, Takaaki Sato, Satoru Unzai, Michael Hecht, Ryoichi Arai Publication Year 2015 Type Journal Article Abstract The design of novel proteins that self-assemble into supramolecular complexes is an important step in the development of synthetic biology and nanotechnology. Recently, we described the three-dimensional structure of WA20, a de novo protein that forms an intermolecularly folded dimeric 4-helix bundle (PDB code 3VJF ). To harness the unusual intertwined structure of WA20 for the self-assembly of supramolecular nanostructures, we created a protein nanobuilding block (PN-Block), called WA20-foldon, by fusing the dimeric structure of WA20 to the trimeric foldon domain of fibritin from bacteriophage T4. The WA20-foldon fusion protein was expressed in the soluble fraction in Escherichia coli, purified, and shown to form several homooligomeric forms. The stable oligomeric forms were further purified and characterized by a range of biophysical techniques. Size exclusion chromatography, multiangle light scattering, analytical ultracentrifugation, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analyses indicate that the small (S form), middle (M form), and large (L form) forms of the WA20-foldon oligomers exist as hexamer (6-mer), dodecamer (12-mer), and octadecamer (18-mer), respectively. These findings suggest that the oligomers in multiples of 6-mer are stably formed by fusing the interdigitated dimer of WA20 with the trimer of foldon domain. Pair-distance distribution functions obtained from the Fourier inversion of the SAXS data suggest that the S and M forms have barrel- and tetrahedron-like shapes, respectively. These results demonstrate that the de novo WA20-foldon is an effective building block for the creation of self-assembling artificial nanoarchitectures. Journal J Am Chem Soc Volume 137 Issue 35 Pages 11285-93 Date Published 2015 Sep 09 ISSN Number 1520-5126 DOI 10.1021/jacs.5b03593 Alternate Journal J Am Chem Soc PMID 26120734 PubMedGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML