Theoretical Study of the Initial Stages of Self-Assembly of a Carboxysome’s Facet [electronic resource].

Published: Washington, D.C. : United States. Office of Science, 2016.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Physical Description: 8 pages : digital, PDF file
Additional Creators: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, United States. Office of Science, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Access Online

www.osti.gov

Availability

Finding items...

Restrictions on Access

Free-to-read Unrestricted online access

Summary

Bacterial microcompartments, BMCs, are organelles that exist within wide variety of bacteria and act as nanofactories. Among the different types of known BMCs, the carboxysome has been studied the most. The carboxysome plays an important role in the light-independent part of the photosynthesis process, where its icosahedral-like proteinaceous shell acts as a membrane that controls the transport of metabolites. Although a structural model exists for the carboxysome shell, it remains largely unknown how the shell proteins self-assemble. Understanding the self-assembly process can provide insights into how the shell affects the carboxysome s function and how it can be modified to create new functionalities, such as artificial nanoreactors and artificial protein membranes. Here, we explain a theoretical framework that employs Monte Carlo simulations with a coarse-grain potential that reproduces well the atomistic potential of mean force; employing this framework, we are able to capture the initial stages of the 2D self-assembly of CcmK2 hexamers, a major protein-shell component of the carboxysome's facet. The simulations reveal that CcmK2 hexamers self-assemble into clusters that resemble what was seen experimentally in 2D layers. Further analysis of the simulation results suggests that the 2D self-assembly of carboxysome s facets is driven by a nucleation growth process, which in turn could play an important role in the hierarchical self- assembly of BMC shells in general.

Report Numbers

E 1.99:1240572

Subject(s)

Other Subject(s)

Note

Published through SciTech Connect.
02/24/2016.
ACS Nano ISSN 1936-0851 AM
J. P. Mahalik; Kirsten A. Brown; Xiaolin Cheng; Miguel Fuentes-Cabrera.

Funding Information

AC05-00OR22725

View MARC record | catkey: 23500549