Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, Lichtenbergstrasse 4, 85748 Garching, Germany.
Soft Matter. 2018 Jun 13;14(23):4852-4859. doi: 10.1039/c8sm00822a.
Dissipative self-assembly is a process in which energy-consuming chemical reaction networks drive the assembly of molecules. Prominent examples from biology include the GTP-fueled microtubule and ATP-driven actin assembly. Pattern formation and oscillatory behavior are some of the unique properties of the emerging assemblies. While artificial counterparts exist, researchers have not observed such complex responses. One reason for the missing complexity is the lack of feedback mechanisms of the assemblies on their chemical reaction network. In this work, we describe the dissipative self-assembly of colloids that protect the hydrolysis of their building blocks. The mechanism of inhibition is generalized and explored for other building blocks. We show that we can tune the level of inhibition by the assemblies. Finally, we show that the robustness of the assemblies towards starvation is affected by the degree of inhibition.
耗散自组装是一种能量消耗型化学反应网络驱动分子组装的过程。生物学中的突出例子包括 GTP 驱动的微管和 ATP 驱动的肌动蛋白组装。模式形成和振荡行为是新兴组装体的一些独特性质。虽然存在人工对应物，但研究人员尚未观察到如此复杂的反应。缺失复杂性的一个原因是组装体对其化学反应网络缺乏反馈机制。在这项工作中，我们描述了胶体的耗散自组装，胶体保护其构建块的水解。抑制机制被推广并用于其他构建块。我们表明，我们可以通过组装体来调节抑制水平。最后，我们表明组装体对饥饿的稳健性受到抑制程度的影响。
