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TOPOFOLD , the designed modular biomolecular folds: polypeptide‐based molecular origami nanostructures following the footsteps of DNA
Author(s) -
Kočar Vid,
Božič Abram Sabina,
Doles Tibor,
Bašić Nino,
Gradišar Helena,
Pisanski Tomaž,
Jerala Roman
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1939-0041
pISSN - 1939-5116
DOI - 10.1002/wnan.1289
Subject(s) - dna origami , modular design , dna , nanotechnology , nanostructure , chemistry , biophysics , microbiology and biotechnology , computer science , materials science , biochemistry , biology , operating system
Biopolymers, the essential components of life, are able to form many complex nanostructures, and proteins in particular are the material of choice for most cellular processes. Owing to numerous cooperative interactions, rational design of new protein folds remains extremely challenging. An alternative strategy is to design topofolds—nanostructures built from polypeptide arrays of interacting modules that define their topology. Over the course of the last several decades DNA has successfully been repurposed from its native role of information storage to a smart nanomaterial used for nanostructure self‐assembly of almost any shape, which is largely because of its programmable nature. Unfortunately, polypeptides do not possess the straightforward complementarity as do nucleic acids. However, a modular approach can nevertheless be used to assemble polypeptide nanostructures, as was recently demonstrated on a single‐chain polypeptide tetrahedron. This review focuses on the current state‐of‐the‐art in the field of topological polypeptide folds. It starts with a brief overview of the field of structural DNA and RNA nanotechnology, from which it draws parallels and possible directions of development for the emerging field of polypeptide‐based nanotechnology. The principles of topofold strategy and unique properties of such polypeptide nanostructures in comparison to native protein folds are discussed. Reasons for the apparent absence of such folds in nature are also examined. Physicochemical versatility of amino acid residues and cost‐effective production makes polypeptides an attractive platform for designed functional bionanomaterials. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2015, 7:218–237. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1289 This article is categorized under: Biology-Inspired Nanomaterials > Nucleic Acid-Based Structures Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology Biology-Inspired Nanomaterials > Protein and Virus-Based Structures