title: Influence of Electrostatics on Small Molecule Flux through a Protein Nanoreactor.
abstract: Nature uses protein compartmentalization to great effect for control over enzymatic pathways, and the strategy has great promise for synthetic biology. In particular, encapsulation in nanometer-sized containers to create nanoreactors has the potential to elicit interesting, unexplored effects resulting from deviations from well-understood bulk processes. Self-assembled protein shells for encapsulation are especially desirable for their uniform structures and ease of perturbation through genetic mutation. Here, we use the MS2 capsid, a well-defined porous 27 nm protein shell, as an enzymatic nanoreactor to explore pore-structure effects on substrate and product flux during the catalyzed reaction. Our results suggest that the shell can influence the enzymatic reaction based on charge repulsion between small molecules and point mutations around the pore structure. These findings also lend support to the hypothesis that protein compartments modulate the transport of small molecules and thus influence metabolic reactions and catalysis in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Bioengineering, §Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California , Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
authors.forename: Jeff E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Glasgow
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Bioengineering, §Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California , Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Asensio
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Bioengineering, §Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California , Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Jakobson
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Bioengineering, §Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California , Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
authors.forename: Matthew B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Francis
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Bioengineering, §Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California , Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tullman-Ercek
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism; D019149:Bioreactors; D002213:Capsid / Q000737:chemistry; D002384:Catalysis; D004800:Enzymes, Immobilized / Q000737:chemistry; D036103:Nanotechnology; D016062:Porosity; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D004800:Enzymes, Immobilized; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase
keywords: compartmentalization; enzyme catalysis; enzyme encapsulation; nanobioreactor; virus