title: Engineering and Assembly of Protein Modules into Functional Molecular Systems.
abstract: Synthetic biology approaches range from the introduction of unique features into organisms to the assembly of isolated biomacromolecules or synthetic building blocks into artificial biological systems with biomimetic or completely novel functionalities. Simple molecular systems can be based on containers on the nanoscale that are equipped with tailored functional modules for various applications in healthcare, industry or biological and medical research. The concept, or vision, of assembling native or engineered proteins and/or synthetic components as functional modules into molecular systems is discussed. The main focus is laid on the engineering of energizing modules generating chemical energy, transport modules using this energy to translocate molecules between compartments of a molecular system, and catalytic modules (bio-)chemically processing the molecules. Further key aspects of this discourse are possible approaches for the assembly of simple nanofactories and their applications in biotechnology and medical health.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern, Bühlstrasse 28, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirschi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern, Bühlstrasse 28, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stauffer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern, Bühlstrasse 28, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Harder
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zürich, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meier
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern, Bühlstrasse 28, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. dimitrios.fotiadis@ibmm.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fotiadis
mesh_terms: D015202:Protein Engineering; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins