Zernike Instituut, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2018 Jan;73:145-152. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2017.07.044. Epub 2017 Jul 31.
The archetypical protein nanoshell is the capsid that surrounds viral genomes. These capsids protect the viral RNA or DNA and function as transport vehicle for their nucleic acid. The material properties of a variety of viral capsids have been probed by Atomic Force Microscopy. In particular nanoindentation measurements revealed the complex mechanics of these shells and the intricate interplay of the capsid with its genomic content. Furthermore, effects of capsid protein mutations, capsid maturation and the effect of environmental changes have been probed. In addition, biological questions have been addressed by AFM nanoindentation of viruses and a direct link between mechanics and infectivity has been revealed. Recently, non-viral protein nanoshells have come under intense scrutiny and now the nanoindentation approach has been expanded to such particles as well. Both natural as well as engineered non-viral protein shells have been probed by this technique. Next to the material properties of viruses, therefor also the mechanics of encapsulins, carboxysomes, vault particles, lumazine synthase and artificial protein nanoshells is discussed here.
典型的蛋白质纳米壳是围绕病毒基因组的衣壳。这些衣壳保护病毒 RNA 或 DNA，并作为其核酸的运输载体。多种病毒衣壳的材料特性已通过原子力显微镜进行了探测。特别是纳米压痕测量揭示了这些壳的复杂力学特性，以及衣壳与基因组内容的复杂相互作用。此外，还探测了衣壳蛋白突变、衣壳成熟和环境变化的影响。此外，通过对病毒进行原子力显微镜纳米压痕还解决了生物学问题，并揭示了力学与感染性之间的直接联系。最近，非病毒蛋白质纳米壳受到了广泛关注，现在这种纳米压痕方法也已经扩展到了这些颗粒。通过这种技术探测了天然和工程化的非病毒蛋白质壳。除了病毒的材料特性外，这里还讨论了衣壳蛋白、羧酶体、穹顶颗粒、尿卟啉原脱羧酶和人工蛋白质纳米壳的力学特性。
