Protein Materials Engineering with DNA.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Proteins offer complex nanoscale building blocks with diverse functions and structures.
• Synthetically engineering protein-based materials is challenging due to complex protein surface interactions.
• Existing synthetic nanoparticles have limitations in design space and complexity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for controlling protein self-assembly into well-defined materials and crystals.
• To leverage programmable DNA-DNA interactions to replace complex protein-protein interactions.
• To explore the design space of protein-DNA conjugates for novel nanomaterial architectures.

Main Methods:

• Surface modification of proteins with DNA to create protein-DNA conjugates.
• Tuning assembly behavior by controlling DNA sequence, protein sequence, and DNA attachment chemistry/position.
• Designing directional interactions and valency on protein surfaces through mutagenesis and DNA modification.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated control over protein monomer energy barriers via oligonucleotide properties.
• Achieved directional binding and one-dimensional assembly using bivalent protein-DNA building blocks.
• Successfully assembled densely DNA-modified proteins into crystalline superlattices, similar to DNA-functionalized nanoparticles.
• Showcased unique crystallization pathways and exotic structures by controlling DNA spatial distribution on proteins.

Conclusions:

• Protein-DNA conjugates provide a powerful platform for programmable nanomaterial assembly.
• This approach expands the design space beyond inorganic nanoparticles, enabling novel architectures.
• Further research is needed to establish general design rules for DNA-mediated protein assembly.