Chemical cross-linking provides an effective avenue to reduce the conformational entropy of polypeptide chains and hence has become a popular method to induce or force structural formation in peptides and proteins.Rec...Chemical cross-linking provides an effective avenue to reduce the conformational entropy of polypeptide chains and hence has become a popular method to induce or force structural formation in peptides and proteins.Recently,other types of molecular constraints,especially photoresponsive linkers and functional groups,have also found increased use in a wide variety of applications.Herein,we provide a concise review of using various forms of molecular strategies to constrain proteins,thereby stabilizing their native states,gaining insight into their folding mechanisms,and/or providing a handle to trigger a conformational process of interest with light.The applications discussed here cover a wide range of topics,ranging from delineating the details of the protein folding energy landscape to controlling protein assembly and function.展开更多
Hetero-assembling of spherical building blocks with well-defined spatial distribution holds great significance in developing chiral nanostructures. Herein, a strategy for hetero-assembling of gold nanoparticles(Au NPs...Hetero-assembling of spherical building blocks with well-defined spatial distribution holds great significance in developing chiral nanostructures. Herein, a strategy for hetero-assembling of gold nanoparticles(Au NPs) was demonstrated using rigid bifacial DNA origami as templates. By tuning the sizes and the fixed location of Au NPs on DNA origami, right-handed and left-handed Au NPs nanostructures were respectively constructed. Gel electrophoresis indicated the formation of the DNA origami-Au NPs complex and transmission electron microscopy(TEM) visually displayed the arrangement of Au NPs in these two chiral structures. The spatial configuration and 3D geometry of Au NPs were further illustrated by the stereographic TEM with tilting angles from ?30° to 30°. This strategy provides a universal approach to construct the asymmetrical 3D geometries, which may have potential applications in biomimicking and nanophotonics.展开更多
基金supported by the National Institutes of Health(GM-065978,AG-039253)
文摘Chemical cross-linking provides an effective avenue to reduce the conformational entropy of polypeptide chains and hence has become a popular method to induce or force structural formation in peptides and proteins.Recently,other types of molecular constraints,especially photoresponsive linkers and functional groups,have also found increased use in a wide variety of applications.Herein,we provide a concise review of using various forms of molecular strategies to constrain proteins,thereby stabilizing their native states,gaining insight into their folding mechanisms,and/or providing a handle to trigger a conformational process of interest with light.The applications discussed here cover a wide range of topics,ranging from delineating the details of the protein folding energy landscape to controlling protein assembly and function.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB933301)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21305070, 21475064)+2 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20130861)the Sci-tech Support Plan of Jiangsu Province (BE2014719)Science Foundation of Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (213005, 214175).
文摘Hetero-assembling of spherical building blocks with well-defined spatial distribution holds great significance in developing chiral nanostructures. Herein, a strategy for hetero-assembling of gold nanoparticles(Au NPs) was demonstrated using rigid bifacial DNA origami as templates. By tuning the sizes and the fixed location of Au NPs on DNA origami, right-handed and left-handed Au NPs nanostructures were respectively constructed. Gel electrophoresis indicated the formation of the DNA origami-Au NPs complex and transmission electron microscopy(TEM) visually displayed the arrangement of Au NPs in these two chiral structures. The spatial configuration and 3D geometry of Au NPs were further illustrated by the stereographic TEM with tilting angles from ?30° to 30°. This strategy provides a universal approach to construct the asymmetrical 3D geometries, which may have potential applications in biomimicking and nanophotonics.