活生物体由组装成生物分子复合物的蛋白质构成,每个都有独特的形状和功能。我们对这些复合物的结构-活性关系的了解仍然有限,主要是因为它们的体积小,复杂结构,快速流程,和不断变化的环境。此外,当前微观工具的限制以及应用分子动力学模拟来捕获生物分子复合物和长期现象的动态响应的困难,需要新的补充工具和方法来帮助弥合这一差距。在本文中,我们提出了一种比较生物分子和折纸层次结构的方法,并将其应用于比较细菌微区(BMC)与基于螺旋的折纸模型。我们的第一个分析将组装BMC的蛋白质与折纸模型进行了比较,折纸模型称为“flasher”,这是组装好的折纸模型的单位单元。然后,将BMC结构与组装的折纸模型进行比较,并基于相似性,物理放大的折纸模型,类似于BMC,构造。折纸模型被转化为计算机辅助设计模型,并通过3D打印技术制造。折纸模型和3D打印零件的有限元分析和物理实验揭示了二十面体的机械响应趋势,它是由瓷砖手性元素构成的。手性元件随着二十面体的膨胀而旋转,我们推断它允许BMC打开材料跨膜通道的门。
Living organisms are constructed from proteins that assemble into biomolecular complexes, each with a unique shape and function. Our knowledge about the structure-activity relationship of these complexes is still limited, mainly because of their small size, complex structure, fast processes, and changing environment. Furthermore, the constraints of current microscopic tools and the difficulty in applying molecular dynamic simulations to capture the dynamic response of biomolecular complexes and long-term phenomena call for new supplementary tools and approaches that can help bridge this gap. In this paper, we present an approach to comparing biomolecular and origami hierarchical structures and apply it to comparing bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) with spiral-based origami models. Our first analysis compares proteins that assemble the BMC with an origami model called \"flasher\", which is the unit cell of an assembled origami model. Then, the BMC structure is compared with the assembled origami model and based on the similarity, a physical scaled-up origami model, which is analogous to the BMC, is constructed. The origami model is translated into a computer-aided design model and manufactured via 3D-printing technology. Finite element analysis and physical experiments of the origami model and 3D-printed parts reveal trends in the mechanical response of the icosahedron, which is constructed from tiled-chiral elements. The chiral elements rotate as the icosahedron expands and we deduce that it allows the BMC to open gates for transmembrane passage of materials.