title: Precise and Reversible Protein-Microtubule-Like Structure with Helicity Driven by Dual Supramolecular Interactions.
abstract: Protein microtubule is a significant self-assembled architecture found in nature with crucial biological functions. However, mimicking protein microtubules with precise structure and controllable self-assembly behavior remains highly challenging. In this work, we demonstrate that by using dual supramolecular interactions from a series of well-designed ligands, i.e., protein-sugar interaction and π-π stacking, highly homogeneous protein microtubes were achieved from tetrameric soybean agglutinin without any chemical or biological modification. Using combined cryo-EM single-particle reconstruction and computational modeling, the accurate structure of protein microtube was determined. The helical protein microtube is consisted of three protofilaments, each of which features an array of soybean agglutinin tetramer linked by the designed ligands. Notably, the microtubes resemble the natural microtubules in their structural and dynamic features such as the shape and diameter and the controllable and reversible assembly behavior, among others. Furthermore, the protein microtubes showed an ability to enhance immune response, demonstrating its great potential for biological applications.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Soft Matter and Functional Materials, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie , 14109 Berlin, Germany.|TEM Group, Institute of Physics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin , 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Zdravko
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kochovski
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Yufei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Fuji
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California , Los Angeles, California 90095, United States.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Soft Matter and Functional Materials, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie , 14109 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Soft Matter and Functional Materials, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie , 14109 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ballauff
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Center for Structural Biology, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Xueming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Guosong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D002942:Circular Dichroism; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy; D008870:Microtubules / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins