Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications
"the most striking and successful approaches" Book News
Publisher: Caister Academic PressEdited by: Bernd H. A. Rehm
Institute of Molecular BioSciences, Massey University, New Zealand
Pages: x + 310
Hardback:
Publication date: February 2013
ISBN: 978-1-908230-16-4
Price: GB £219 or US $250Buy book or Buy online
Ebook:
Publication date: October 2013
ISBN: 978-1-908230-81-2
Price: US $319Buy ebook
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21775/9781912530243
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The emerging science of bionanotechnology refers to the harnessing of the vast diversity of self-assembling building blocks and processes for the assembly of nano-scaled structures for the manufacture of highly functional nanomaterials. Bionanotechnology is an interdisciplinary field combining biological principles with physical and chemical procedures to generate nano-sized building blocks and materials with specific functions and new properties. It involves the development of biologically-based procedures, the use of biological components and systems, the design of biocompatible objects and systems and the use of nanotechnology to support biotechnological processes.
Under the expert guidance of Bernd H. A. Rehm, the authors of this book provide a survey of the most striking and successful approaches for the production of biogenic nanodevices considering not only living organisms as manufacturer but also in vitro processes that utilize the self-assembly of isolated biomolecules. The book provides a topical overview of the vast field of bionanotechnology by describing various biological nanostructures, the implied design space and the enormous potential for applications in medicine and technology. Two chapters describe the microbial production of tailor-made self-assembled nanostructures which can be processed into functional nanoparticles. Other chapters comprehensively summarize recent developments in the use of protein-based assemblies for nanodevice and nanomaterials production. Topics include: polymer synthesis, self-assembly and display technology, self-assembly and application of cellulosomal components, protein-aided mineralization of inorganic nanostructures, amyloid fibrils as bionanomaterials, self-assembly and applications of bacteriophages and virus-like particles, plant oil bodies and oleosins-structure function and biotechnological applications, visual restoration using microbial rhodopsins, magnetosomes and liposome-nanoparticle assemblies.
This is a recommended book for anyone interested in the fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology, metabolic engineering, molecular biology, genetic engineering and protein design.
Reviews
"... survey (of) some of the most striking and successful approaches to producing biogenic nanodevices ... consider(s) not only living organisms as manufacturers, but also applying the processes for the in vitro self-assembly of isolated biomolecules" from Ref. Res. Book News (February 2013) p265.
Table of contents
1. Polyhydroxyalkanoate Inclusions: Polymer Synthesis, Self-assembly and Display Technology
Jenny Draper, Jinping Du, David O. Hooks, Jason Lee, Natalie Parlane and Bernd H.A. Rehm
Biopolyesters are a class of carbon storage polymers synthesized by a wide variety of bacteria in response to nutrient stress. Production of these polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs = polyesters) is catalyzed by PHA synthases, which polymerize (R)-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA thioesters into polyester. There are several different classes of PHA synthases which preferentially utilize different CoA thioester precursors, generating PHAs with varying material properties such as elasticity and melting point. Genetic engineering and growth on varied carbon sources can be used to modify the type of polyester produced. The general biopolyester properties of biocompatibility, biodegradability, and production from renewable carbon sources have led to considerable interest in PHAs as biomaterials for medical applications as well as alternatives to petrochemical plastics. Biopolyesters are generated in the cell as water-insoluble granules coated with structural, regulatory, and synthase proteins. Recently, the natural structure of the granules has been exploited to generate functionalized nanoparticles for use in a wide variety of applications, including bioseparation, drug delivery, protein purification, enzyme immobilization, diagnostics, and vaccine delivery.
2. Self-assembly and Application of Cellulosomal Components
Daniel B. Fried, Sarah Moraïs, Qi Xu, Shi-You Ding, John O. Baker, Yannick J. Bomble, Michael E. Himmel and Edward A. Bayer
Cellulosomes are modular, super-molecular enzyme systems secreted by anaerobic bacteria to degrade recalcitrant plant cell wall polysaccharides to simple sugars. The components of this molecular machine include a manifold of enzymatic units and carbohydrate-binding modules, as well as the cohesin and dockerin modules responsible for the system's unique self-assembly and connectivity. Known to be one of the highest affinity protein-protein interactions discovered to date, the cohesin-dockerin interaction is also the key to engineering the cellulosome. By mixing and matching the spare parts of the cellulosome and connecting them via cohesins and dockerins, biotechnologists have begun pursuing the concept of "designer cellulosomes," which one day may be an important contributor to production of sustainable biomass-derived fuels. By incorporating molecules from other systems into the cellulosome paradigm, nanotechnologists have begun to harness the potential of this molecular construction kit to create diverse, self-assembling nanostructures for a broad variety of biotechnological applications.
3. Protein-aided Mineralization of Inorganic Nanostructures
Brandon L. Coyle, Weibin Zhou and François Baneyx
Designer proteins combine the adhesive or synthesizing properties of solid binding peptides (SBPs) selected by combinatorial techniques with the desirable characteristics of a host scaffold. Like natural biomineralizing proteins, these chimeric constructs are powerful tools to control the nucleation, growth, morphogenesis and crystallography of inorganic phases. They also hold great potential for the assembly of hybrid structures in which inorganic, biological and synthetic components are organized with the high degree of precision needed to take advantage of the unique properties of matter at the nanoscale. After briefly discussing common approaches for identifying SBPs, we discuss the mechanisms by which they modulate materialization, which variables influence the process, and review recent progress in the use of designer proteins to fabricate complex architectures.
4. Amyloid Fibrils as Bionanomaterials
Jared K. Raynes and Juliet A. Gerrard
It is becoming increasingly clear that nature employs amyloid fibrils in a functional role for a range of processes, from immune responses, to aiding in the colonisation of bacteria. These functional amyloid fibrils have inspired researchers to investigate the potential of amyloid fibrils as novel bionanomaterials. The amyloid fibril structure possesses many features that make it an ideal candidate for use in bionanomaterials. These include: their nanometre size, which gives rise to a high surface-to-volume ratio enabling high loading capacities of decorations on their surface; the ability to self-assemble, which affords a bottom-up approach to material design; the potential to be manufactured from waste materials; and their diverse chemical functionality, arising from their amino acid composition, which allows for decoration with chemicals and biomolecules via amino acid moieties such as amino and sulfur groups. This chapter focuses on the assembly of amyloid fibrils and how these features are enabling their emerging uses as novel bionanomaterials.
5. Bacteriophages: Self-assembly and Applications
Jasna Rakonjac and James F. Conway
Bacteriophage biology ushered in the era of modern molecular and structural biology. Accumulated wealth of knowledge on phage assembly, structure and the life cycle permitted their utilization in broad range of applications, from basic molecular biology to nanotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. This chapter reviews current status of knowledge of bacteriophage assembly and structure represented by two morphologically different types, headed and filamentous bacteriophages. The principles of phage display are further presented, followed by a wide range of applications, including the most recent applications in nanotechnology.
6. Bio-inspired Biomolecular Supramolecular Self-assemblies and Their Applications
Dong Li and Chuanbin Mao
A variety of naturally occurring biological materials exhibits supramolecular self-assembly properties. By incorporation of signaling motifs, biological information and functional units, these biological materials can find extensive applications in developing nanotechnology, material science, tissue engineering and nanomedicine. In this chapter, some naturally occurring materials, which can be genetically engineered to display or chemically modified to incorporate foreign peptides, are summarized. The self-assembly behaviors of these biological materials generates hierarchically organized structures from the bottom up. The presentation of functional peptides on these biological materials enables the production of biomaterials for different applications. More and more naturally occurring biological materials are to be studied with the development of biotechnology and nanotechnology.
7. Virus-like Particles
Rob Noad and Polly Roy
Virus-like particles (VLPs) are self-assembling nanoparticles that mimic viruses. They have been used as highly immunogenic, safe, vaccines; as carriers for antigen and epitope display, and the delivery of small molecules to cells. Formed from the proteins that normally make up the structure of the virus particle, VLPs often have characteristics that are indistinguishable from the parent virus. In addition, the ability to form VLPs appears to be an intrinsic property of many, if not most, viral structural proteins. Given that viruses are ubiquitous in the environment, the VLP approach offers the potential to match particle characteristics to biotechnological application. This chapter reviews the current state of VLP research with a focus on the diverse applications for which VLPs have been used and the potential for further development of the technology.
8. Plant Oil Bodies and Oleosins: Structure, Function and Biotechnological Applications
Anisha David, Sunita Yadav and Satish Chander Bhatla
Although oil bodies are present in a wide variety of tissues in plants, it is their abundance in the oilseed cotyledons that has been most extensively investigated for their biogenesis, structure, physiological roles, isolation and biotechnological applications. The phospholipid monolayer membrane of the oil bodies encasing the triacylglycerol (TAG) matrix not only possesses a set of structural and functional proteins (oleosins, steroleosins and caleosins), they also exhibit quite a few enzymatic and non-enzymatic proteins on their surface (lipoxygenase, protease and phospholipase) whose expression is transient and depends on the stage of oil body mobilization during seed germination. These transiently expressed signalling molecules are under the influence of various environmental and consequent physiological factors for their roles in oil body mobilization during seed germination. Based on these features of oil bodies to attract and bind a variety of biomolecules on their surface, oil body preparations have been put to extensive biotechnological applications, which are also being discussed in this review.
9. Visual Restoration using Microbial Rhodopsins
Nicole L. Wagner, Jordan A. Greco and Robert R. Birge
Biological systems are governed by nano- and micro- scale processes that can be efficiently exploited by various technological tools and research approaches. Harnessing the power of nanobiotechnology has modified the way scientists approach and treat diseases. Through manipulation of matter at the nanoscale regime, engineers now have the ability to attack many of the challenges of modern science and medicine. As the field of nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology grows, new paradigms are being developed to accentuate the development of nanometric and micrometric materials and devices. This review will focus on the use of retinylidene proteins, particularly microbial rhodopsins, in gene therapy, optogenetics, and visual prosthetics for the treatment of opthalmic degenerative diseases.
10. Magnetosomes
Mathieu Bennet, Teresa Perez-Gonzalez, Dean Wood and Damien Faivre
Magnetotactic bacteria are microorganisms that form chains of magnetic nanoparticles. This process represents one of the most advanced examples of biological self-assembly at the nano- and micrometre scale. In fact, the nanoparticle size and morphology, together with the arrangement are controlled at the genetic level. The resulting hierarchical structure bestowing its magnetic properties to the bacteria is of utter interest to the development of bio-inspired nanotechnological self-assemblies. In this chapter, we describe the characteristics of the bacterial magnetic assembly with reference to the latest model found in the scientific literature. The roles of the magnetic dipoles interactions and of bacterial membrane proteins to achieve a stable, optimised and effective magnetic assembly are assessed and the relevant bio-inspired self-assembly scientific works are reviewed.
11. Liposome-Nanoparticle Assemblies
Matthew R. Preiss, Anju Gupta and Geoffrey D. Bothun
Liposome-nanoparticle assemblies (LNAs) combine the demonstrated potential of clinically approved nanoparticles and liposomes to achieve multiple therapeutic and diagnostic objectives. Efficient and effective biomedical application requires assemblies to be stable, biocompatible, and bioavailable, while enhancing the properties of encapsulates. LNAs have been demonstrated to be effective for in vivo and in vitro providing targeting and stimuli-responsive delivery of therapeutic and imaging agents. The ability to design LNAs with nanoparticle encapsulation, bilayer-decoration, and surface coupling provides a variety of different structures and functions. While the potential of LNAs has been demonstrated, future investigation into the interaction between the lipid bilayer and nanoparticles is necessary to understand and develop LNAs for clinical applications. This section will discuss the current state of liposome-nanoparticle assembly design, characterization, and applications of liposome-nanoparticle assemblies.
(EAN: 9781908230164 9781908230812 Subjects: [microbiology] [molecular biology] )
