title: Assembly and Mechanical Properties of the Cargo-Free and Cargo-Loaded Bacterial Nanocompartment Encapsulin.
abstract: Prokaryotes mostly lack membranous compartments that are typical of eukaryotic cells, but instead, they have various protein-based organelles. These include bacterial microcompartments like the carboxysome and the virus-like nanocompartment encapsulin. Encapsulins have an adaptable mechanism for enzyme packaging, which makes it an attractive platform to carry a foreign protein cargo. Here we investigate the assembly pathways and mechanical properties of the cargo-free and cargo-loaded nanocompartments, using a combination of native mass spectrometry, atomic force microscopy and multiscale computational molecular modeling. We show that encapsulin dimers assemble into rigid single-enzyme bacterial containers. Moreover, we demonstrate that cargo encapsulation has a mechanical impact on the shell. The structural similarity of encapsulins to virus capsids is reflected in their mechanical properties. With these robust mechanical properties encapsulins provide a suitable platform for the development of nanotechnological applications.
authors.affiliation: Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University , Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Netherlands Proteomics Centre, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Natuur- en Sterrenkunde and LaserLab, Vrije Universiteit , De Boelelaan 1081, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Joost
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Snijder
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts , Lowell, Massachusetts 01854, United States.|Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow Region, Russia 141700.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kononova
authors.affiliation: Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University , Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Netherlands Proteomics Centre, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ioana M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Barbu
authors.affiliation: Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University , Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Netherlands Proteomics Centre, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Uetrecht
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Nanotechnology, MESA+ Institute, University of Twente , P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W Frederik
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Rurup
authors.affiliation: Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University , Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Netherlands Proteomics Centre, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Burnley
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Nanotechnology, MESA+ Institute, University of Twente , P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Melissa S T
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Koay
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Nanotechnology, MESA+ Institute, University of Twente , P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeroen J L M
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cornelissen
authors.affiliation: Natuur- en Sterrenkunde and LaserLab, Vrije Universiteit , De Boelelaan 1081, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Moleculaire Biofysica, Zernike instituut, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wouter H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Roos
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts , Lowell, Massachusetts 01854, United States.|Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow Region, Russia 141700.
authors.forename: Valeri
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Barsegov
authors.affiliation: Natuur- en Sterrenkunde and LaserLab, Vrije Universiteit , De Boelelaan 1081, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gijs J L
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Wuite
authors.affiliation: Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University , Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Netherlands Proteomics Centre, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Albert J R
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Heck
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D001951:Brevibacterium; D008958:Models, Molecular; D036103:Nanotechnology; D015388:Organelles / Q000378:metabolism*; D055503:Protein Multimerization
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins