Ligand–Receptor Interaction Modulates the Energy Landscape of Enzyme-Instructed Self-Assembly of Small Molecules
Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: The concurrence of enzymatic reaction and ligand-receptor interactions is common for proteins, but rare for small molecules and has yet to be explored. Here we show that ligand-receptor interaction modulates the morphology of molecular assemblies formed by enzyme-instructed assembly of small molecules. While the absence of ligand-receptor interaction allows enzymatic dephosphorylation of a precursor to generate the hydrogelator that self-assembles to form long nanofibers, the presence of the ligand-receptor interaction biases the pathway to form precipitous aggregates containing short nanofibers. While the hydrogelators self-assemble to form nanofibers or nanoribbons that are unable to bind with the ligand (i.e., vancomycin), the addition of surfactant breaks up the assemblies to restore the ligand-receptor interaction. In addition, an excess amount of the ligands can disrupt the nanofibers and result in the precipitates. As the first example of the use of ligand-receptor interaction to modulate the kinetics of enzymatic self-assembly, this work not only provides a solution to evaluate the interaction between aggregates and target molecules but also offers new insight for understanding the emergent behavior of sophisticated molecular systems having multiple and parallel processes.
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b07677
Authors: Richard Haburcak, Junfeng Shi, Xuewen Du, Dan Yuan, Bing Xu
Institution: Brandeis University
Language: English
Subfield: Biomaterials
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
OpenAlex ID: W2542160012