Timed material self-assembly controlled by circadian clock proteins
Active biological molecules present a powerful, yet largely untapped, opportunity to impart autonomous regulation to materials. Because these systems can function robustly to regulate when and where chemical reactions occur, they have the ability to bring complex, life-like behavior to synthetic mat...
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
01.03.2023
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Active biological molecules present a powerful, yet largely untapped,
opportunity to impart autonomous regulation to materials. Because these systems
can function robustly to regulate when and where chemical reactions occur, they
have the ability to bring complex, life-like behavior to synthetic materials.
Here, we achieve this design feat by using functionalized circadian clock
proteins, KaiB and KaiC, to engineer time-dependent crosslinking of colloids.
The resulting material self-assembles with programmable kinetics, producing
macroscopic changes in material properties, via molecular assembly of KaiB-KaiC
complexes. We show that colloid crosslinking depends strictly on the
phosphorylation state of KaiC, with kinetics that are synced with KaiB-KaiC
complexing. Our microscopic image analyses and computational models indicate
that the stability of colloidal super-structures depends sensitively on the
number of Kai complexes per colloid connection. Consistent with our model
predictions, a high concentration stabilizes the material against dissolution
after a robust self-assembly phase, while a low concentration allows circadian
oscillation of material structure. This work introduces the concept of
harnessing biological timers to control synthetic materials; and, more
generally, opens the door to using protein-based reaction networks to endow
synthetic systems with life-like functional properties. |
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DOI: | 10.48550/arxiv.2303.00779 |