Protein self-assembly: technology and strategy

Proteins, as the premier building blocks in nature, exhibit extraordinary ability in life activities during which process proteins mostly self-assemble into large complexes to exert prominent functions. Inspired by this, recent chemical and biological studies mainly focus on supramolecular self-assembly of proteins into high ordered architectures, especially the assembly strategy to unravel the formation and function of protein nanostructures. In this review, we summarize the progress made in the engineering of supramolecular protein architectures according to the strategies used to control the orientation and the order of the assembly process. Furthermore, potential applications in biomedical areas of the supramolecular protein nanostructures will also be reviewed.

蛋白质作为自然界的首要组成部分，在生命活动中表现出非凡的能力，在此过程中蛋白质大多自组装成大型复合物以发挥突出的功能。受此启发，最近的化学和生物学研究主要集中在蛋白质超分子自组装成高度有序的结构，特别是揭示蛋白质纳米结构的形成和功能的组装策略。在这篇综述中，我们根据用于控制组装过程的方向和顺序的策略总结了超分子蛋白质结构工程方面取得的进展。此外，还将回顾超分子蛋白质纳米结构在生物医学领域的潜在应用。