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New developments in self-assembly and protein pattern formation processes

Research

Erwin Frey’s team, based at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) in Germany, has unveiled new research developments in self-assembly and protein pattern formation processes, which could open up new perspectives in the design of synthetic cells.

The delayed supply of building blocks facilitates the self-assembly of complex structures in compartmentalised systems.

In an article published in the journal PNAS, Severin Angerpointner, Richard Swiderski and Erwin Frey have uncovered an important mechanism in self-assembly processes (the autonomous formation of macromolecules from small building blocks). In biological systems, they often take place in compartmentalised environments that specifically facilitate or control these processes.

Understanding these processes can contribute to a better understanding of the effects of spatial separation on self-assembling systems in nature, but can also facilitate the design of synthetic systems.

The scientists have demonstrated that, counterintuitively, a delayed supply of building blocks can improve the efficiency of self-assembly of complex structures in compartmentalised systems.

“Slow supply from a reservoir increases the yield and shortens the time for complete assembly,” said Erwin Frey.

“Our work furnishes experimentally testable predictions and design principles for synthetic and biological systems. As such, it has greater relevance beyond the specific model,” he noted.

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A new concept for protein pattern morphology and dynamics

Erwin Frey’s team seek to understand emergent behaviours in complex systems, i.e. how molecular interactions can lead to higher-level behaviours. The team of theoretical physicists strives to establish the physical principles underlying the biological phenomena we observe, thereby broadening our understanding of biological systems and also providing general principles for the design of synthetic cells.

In an article published in Nature Physics, Henrik Weyer, Tobias Roth and Erwin Frey presented a new concept for the emergence of protein patterns in complex systems. In cells, the formation of certain protein patterns is essential for many fundamental cellular processes, such as division. However, no general theory has yet established a link between microscopic reaction networks and the spatial structure and dynamics of these patterns.

Although non-equilibrium processes control protein pattern formation, the researchers have shown that equilibrium-like laws can nevertheless arise from these processes and have developed structural and dynamic laws based on a mechanism that mirrors the structure formation in these systems. 

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