Natural and artificial carbohydrate-glued protein aggregates.
Carbohydrate gluing (which may have a carbohydrate-lectin binding mechanism) was first recognized as a major contributor in the supramolecular assembly of annelid giant Hb from the marine-worm P. aibuhitensis. Although this assembly obviously also relies on protein-protein interactions, the authors tested the application of carbohydrate gluing in the assembly of a protein aggregate using a lectin and a carbohydrate-containing protein. The resultant aggregate was a mixture of the protein aggregate and the ingredient proteins. The significance of the method is that the assembly of the aggregate can be controlled by using a hapten sugar. This controllability, in conjunction with newly developing glyco-technology, has great potential for the construction of arbitrary protein molecules into a regular protein aggregate, thereby providing sophisticated functions.
Matsubara
K
K
Nagayama Protein Array Project, ERATO, JRDC, Tsukuba, Japan.
Ebina
S
S
D000818:Animals; D000845:Annelida; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D037102:Lectins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011485:Protein Binding
D006023:Glycoproteins; D006454:Hemoglobins; D037102:Lectins; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D010047:Ovalbumin