Twisted rectangular subunits self-assemble into a ferritin-like capsule
Citation
Davies, J., Ronson, T., & Nitschke, J. Twisted rectangular subunits self-assemble into a ferritin-like capsule. Chem https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.80037
Abstract
The vertices of polyhedral protein capsules are spanned by multiple capsule-forming protein subunits, thus enclosing more volume and larger cargoes than if single proteins connect vertices directly. Application of protein cage design principles to synthetic analogues would allow a given ligand to enclose a greater volume. Here we report the self-assembly of a simple tetramine subcomponent into a tetrahedral metal-organic capsule, with each face of the capsule composed of three ligand panels. The edges of the capsule are 31.8 Å in length — double the distance that can be spanned by a single subcomponent. The self-assembly rules followed by this system are programmed into the tetramine — it twists out of planarity in its lowest-energy configuration, thus favouring the large capsule over a simpler cube-like architecture. Unlike other large metal-organic capsules, the cavity of this new capsule is enclosed and the structure was observed to bind large dianionic guests.
Sponsorship
European Research Council
Funder references
European Research Council (695009)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P027067/1)
EPSRC (EP/T031603/1)
Embargo Lift Date
2025-01-10
Identifiers
This record's DOI: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.80037
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/332590
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Licence URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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