生物结构自组装

Self-assembly of biological structures

生物大分子、复合物分子机器、细胞器、完整细胞乃至生命个体的形成,自组装贯穿其中,并有极其复杂的调控机制.本文归纳分析了生物结构自组装的特点及其物理、化学和几何学原理,并以新生肽链折叠和染色体折叠浓缩为例描述自组装的生物调控原理.采用自组装策略,已经开发了许多生物纳米功能结构,如DNA平面和立体结构、DNA马达、蛋白纳米线、荧光双分子互补系统等.研究复杂生物体系的自组装极具挑战,可使我们更接近生命的本质,还将为纳米科学技术和仿生学提供许多启示.

The formation of all biological structures, from single proteins, protein complex machines, cellular organelles, whole cells to intact organisms is driven by self-assembly with very complicated bioregulatory mechanisms. In this review, characteristics of biological self-assembly and its physical, chemical and geometrical principles are summarized, and the bio-regulatory mechanisms of self- assembly are demonstrated by taking nascent peptide folding and chromosome condensation as examples. In recent years, principles of biological self-assembly have been applied to generate various functional nanostructures, such as DNA mechanical and electronic devices, DNA motors, protein nanowires, and biomolecular fluorescence complementation systems. Nevertheless, elucidating self-assembly of more complicated biological structures remains to be a great challenge. Learning the mechanisms allows us to better understand the essence of life and may give a big push to nanotechnology and bionics.