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Functional Assemblies Emerging in Complex Mixtures of Peptides and Nucleic Acid–Peptide Chimeras
Author(s) -
Chotera Agata,
Sadihov Hava,
CohenLuria Rivka,
Monnard PierreAlain,
Ashkenasy Gonen
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201800500
Subject(s) - nucleic acid , peptide , dna , supramolecular chemistry , conjugate , peptide nucleic acid , amino acid , biology , chimera (genetics) , nucleic acid thermodynamics , structural motif , chemistry , biochemistry , computational biology , biophysics , microbiology and biotechnology , combinatorial chemistry , molecule , gene , base sequence , mathematical analysis , mathematics , organic chemistry
Striking synergy between nucleic acids and proteins is exhibited in living cells. Whether such mutual activity can be performed using simple supramolecular nucleic acid–peptide (NA‐pep) architectures remains a mystery. To shed light on this question, we studied the emergence of a primitive synergy in assemblies of short DNA‐peptide chimeras. Specifically, we characterized multiple structures forming along gradual mixing trajectory, in which a peptide solution was seeded with increasing amounts of NA‐pep chimeras. We report on the systematic change from β‐sheet‐peptide‐based fibrillar architectures into the spherical structures formed by the conjugates. Remarkably, we find that through forming onion‐like structures, the conjugates exhibit increased DNA hybridization stability and bind small molecules more efficiently than the peptides or DNA alone. A brief discussion highlights the implications of our findings for the production of new materials and for research on the origin of life.