Isolating a trimer intermediate in the self-assembly of E2 protein cage
Understanding the self-assembly mechanism of caged proteins provides clues to develop their potential applications in nanotechnology, such as a nanoscale drug delivery system. The E2 protein from Bacillus stearothermophilus, with a virus-like caged structure, has drawn much attention for its potenti...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2013
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/98838 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/12755 |
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| Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | Understanding the self-assembly mechanism of caged proteins provides clues to develop their potential applications in nanotechnology, such as a nanoscale drug delivery system. The E2 protein from Bacillus stearothermophilus, with a virus-like caged structure, has drawn much attention for its potential application as a nanocapsule. To investigate its self-assembly process from subunits to a spherical protein cage, we truncate the C-terminus of the E2 subunit. The redesigned protein subunit shows dynamic transition between monomer and trimer, but not the integrate 60-mer. The results indicate the role of the trimer as the intermediate and building block during the self-assembly of the E2 protein cage. In combination with the molecular dynamics simulations results, we conclude that the C-terminus modulates the self-assembly of the E2 protein cage from trimer to 60-mer. This investigation elucidates the role of the intersubunit interactions in engineering other functionalities in other caged structure proteins. |
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