from Brandon L. Coyle, Weibin Zhou and François Baneyx writing in Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications:

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.

Further reading: Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications

from Jenny Draper, Jinping Du, David O. Hooks, Jason Lee, Natalie Parlane and Bernd H.A. Rehm writing in Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications:

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.

Further reading: Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications

from Anisha David, Sunita Yadav and Satish Chander Bhatla writing in Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications:

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.

Further reading: Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications

from Mathieu Bennet, Teresa Perez-Gonzalez, Dean Wood and Damien Faivre writing in Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications:

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 review, 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.

Further reading: Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications

from Matthew R. Preiss, Anju Gupta and Geoffrey D. Bothun writing in Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications:

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.

Further reading: Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications

"... 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. read more ...

Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications Edited by: Bernd H. A. Rehm ISBN: 978-1-908230-16-4 Publisher: Caister Academic Press Publication Date: February 2013 Cover: hardback "the most striking and successful approaches" (Book News)

from Dong Li and Chuanbin Mao writing in Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications:

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 review, 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.

Further reading: Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications

from Jasna Rakonjac and James F. Conway writing in Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications:

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 paper 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.

Further reading: Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications

from Jared K. Raynes and Juliet A. Gerrard writing in Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications:

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 review focuses on the assembly of amyloid fibrils and how these features are enabling their emerging uses as novel bionanomaterials.

Further reading: Bionanotechnology: Biological Self-assembly and its Applications