Harnessing the Structural and Functional Diversity of Protein Filaments as Biomaterial Scaffolds.

The natural ability of many proteins to polymerize into highly structured filaments has been harnessed as scaffolds to align functional molecules in a diverse range of biomaterials. Protein-engineering methodologies also enable the structural and physical properties of filaments to be tailored for specific biomaterial applications through genetic engineering or filaments built from the ground up using advances in the computational prediction of protein folding and assembly. Using these approaches, protein filament-based biomaterials have been engineered to accelerate enzymatic catalysis, provide routes for the biomineralization of inorganic materials, facilitate energy production and transfer, and provide support for mammalian cells for tissue engineering.

Functional Applications of Nucleic Acid-Protein Hybrid Nanostructures.

Combining the diverse chemical functionality of proteins with the predictable structural assembly of nucleic acids has enabled the creation of hybrid nanostructures for a range of biotechnology applications. Through the attachment of proteins onto or within nucleic acid nanostructures, materials with dynamic capabilities can be created that include switchable enzyme activity, targeted drug delivery, and multienzyme cascades for biocatalysis. Investigations of difficult-to-study biological mechanisms have also been aided by using DNA-protein assemblies that mimic natural processes in a controllable manner.