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Topological effects on capsomer-polyion co-assembly.

Ran Zhang1, Per Linse1

  • 1Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.

The Journal of Chemical Physics
|July 3, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that branched polyions enhance capsid formation. Hyper-branched polyions achieve complete encapsulation, optimizing the co-assembly process for potential biotechnological applications.

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Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Materials Science
  • Computational Chemistry

Background:

  • Viral capsids self-assemble from protein subunits (capsomers).
  • Polyions are polymers with charged groups, relevant in biological systems and nanotechnology.
  • Understanding capsomer-polyion interactions is key for designing synthetic capsids.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the co-assembly of capsomers and polyions into icosahedral capsids.
  • To explore the influence of polyion architecture (linear, branched, hyper-branched) and charge characteristics on capsid formation.
  • To characterize the kinetics and efficiency of the encapsulation process.

Main Methods:

  • Molecular dynamics simulations using a T=1 icosahedral capsid model.
  • Systematic variation of capsomer net charge and charge distribution.
  • Investigation of linear, branched, and hyper-branched polyions.
  • Analysis of time-dependent cluster size, average cluster size, encapsulation efficiency, and polyion extension.

Main Results:

  • Capsid formation follows a two-step process: capsomer adsorption driven by electrostatics, followed by relocation/reorientation.
  • Increased electrostatic interaction slows down the relocation step.
  • Enhanced polyion branching accelerates encapsulation and increases yield.
  • Hyper-branched polyions demonstrated complete encapsulation across all tested charge ratios.

Conclusions:

  • Polyion architecture significantly impacts capsomer-polyion co-assembly kinetics and efficiency.
  • Branched and hyper-branched polyions are superior for achieving high-yield and complete capsid encapsulation.
  • Findings provide insights for designing novel nanomaterials and drug delivery systems based on viral capsid structures.