Computational Design of Self-Assembling Protein Nanomaterials with Atomic Level Accuracy

TLDR

Self‑assembling biomolecules are promising building blocks for functional materials, yet protein‑based designs lag behind the more advanced DNA‑based counterparts. The authors present a computational pipeline that symmetrically docks protein building blocks onto a target architecture and then designs binding interfaces to drive self‑assembly. Using trimeric building blocks, the method produced 12‑subunit tetrahedral and 24‑subunit octahedral complexes, and a 12‑subunit tetrahedral cage was also assembled from fused oligomeric domains. The study references King et al.

Abstract

Design and Build Self-assembling biomolecules are attractive building blocks in the development of functional materials. Sophisticated DNA-based materials have been developed; however, progress in designing protein-based materials has been slower. King et al. (p. 1171 ) describe a general computational method in which protein building blocks are first symmetrically docked onto a target architecture, and then binding interfaces that drive self-assembly of the building blocks are designed. As a proof of principle, trimeric building blocks were used to design self-assembling 12-subunit complexes with tetrahedral symmetry and 24-subunit complexes with octahedral symmetry. Lai et al. (p. 1129 ) were able to build a 12-subunit tetrahedral protein cage from fused oligomeric protein domains.