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Updated: Dec 10, 2025

Creating Highly Specific Chemically Induced Protein Dimerization Systems by Stepwise Phage Selection of a Combinatorial Single-Domain Antibody Library

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Multivalent weak interactions enhance selectivity of interparticle binding.

M R W Scheepers^1,2, L J van IJzendoorn^1,2, M W J Prins^3,2,4

¹Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|August 30, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Multivalent weak interactions enhance binding selectivity for targeted drug delivery. Shorter DNA interactions between particles and cells improve selectivity, as confirmed by experiments and simulations.

Keywords:

multivalency particles selectivity

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Area of Science:

Colloidal science
Biophysics
Nanotechnology

Background:

Targeted drug delivery relies on selective binding of colloidal particles to cells.
Theoretical models indicate multivalency and weak interactions are key for high selectivity.
Ligand-receptor interactions are crucial for particle-cell binding specificity.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of multivalent weak interactions in enhancing binding selectivity.
To model ligand-receptor interactions using DNA-coated particles.
To experimentally validate theoretical predictions on selectivity.

Main Methods:

Optomagnetic cluster experiments were used to measure particle aggregation rates.
Particle aggregation was studied as a function of ligand and receptor densities.
Computational simulations were performed to confirm experimental findings.

Main Results:

Binding selectivity increased with shorter DNA ligand-receptor pairs.
Multivalent weak interactions were shown to enhance interparticle binding selectivity.
Simulations highlighted the importance of ligand-receptor dissociation in selectivity.

Conclusions:

Experimental and simulation results confirm that multivalent weak interactions improve binding selectivity.
The findings provide a foundation for designing more effective targeted drug delivery systems.
Understanding ligand-receptor dissociation is critical for optimizing colloidal particle selectivity.