Metal‐dependent assembly of a protein nano‐cage

Short, alpha‐helical coiled coils provide a simple, modular method to direct the assembly of proteins into higher order structures. We previously demonstrated that by genetically fusing de novo–designed coiled coils of the appropriate oligomerization state to a natural trimeric protein, we could dir...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Protein science 2019-09, Vol.28 (9), p.1620-1629
Main Authors: Cristie‐David, Ajitha S., Marsh, E. Neil G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetic acid
Assembly
Cages
Carbon dioxide
Cobalt
Cobalt - metabolism
coiled coils
Coils
Coordination Complexes - chemistry
Coordination Complexes - metabolism
Coordination compounds
Copper
Full‐Length Papers
Ions
Iron - metabolism
Metal ions
metalloproteins
Metalloproteins - chemistry
Metalloproteins - metabolism
Metals - metabolism
Models, Molecular
Modular structures
Nanoparticles - chemistry
Nickel
Nickel - metabolism
Oligomerization
protein design
Protein Multimerization
protein nano‐cages
Proteins
Transition metals
Zinc
Zinc - metabolism
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Summary:Short, alpha‐helical coiled coils provide a simple, modular method to direct the assembly of proteins into higher order structures. We previously demonstrated that by genetically fusing de novo–designed coiled coils of the appropriate oligomerization state to a natural trimeric protein, we could direct the assembly of this protein into various geometrical cages. Here, we have extended this approach by appending a coiled coil designed to trimerize in response to binding divalent transition metal ions and thereby achieve metal ion‐dependent assembly of a tetrahedral protein cage. Ni2+, Co2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ ions were evaluated, with Ni2+ proving the most effective at mediating protein assembly. Characterization of the assembled protein indicated that the metal ion–protein complex formed discrete globular structures of the diameter expected for a complex containing 12 copies of the protein monomer. Protein assembly could be reversed by removing metal ions with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or under mildly acidic conditions.
ISSN:0961-8368
1469-896X
DOI:10.1002/pro.3676