Bio-mimetic multienzyme assembly by nucleic acids nanostructures

Description:
Cellular functions rely on a series of organized and regulated multienzyme cascade reactions. The catalytic efficiency of multienzyme complexes depends on the spatial organization of composite components which are precisely controlled to facilitate substrate transport and regulate activities. If these cellular mechanisms can be mimicked and translated to a non-living artificial system, it can be useful in a broad range of applications that will bring significant scientific and economic impact. Self-assembled DNA nanostructures are promising to organize biomolecular components into prescribed, multi-dimensional patterns. Here, we described a robust strategy for DNA-scaffolded assembly and confinement of biochemical reactions. DNA nanostructures are exploited to organize spatial arrangements of multienzyme cascades with control over their relative distance, substrate channeling paths, compartmentalization, local confinement of ligands (Figure 1D), as well as the construction of smart and biomimetic reactors. The combination of addressable DNA assembly and multienzyme cascades promises to deliver breakthroughs toward the engineering of novel biomimetic reactors, which have great potential for broad applications from chemical synthesis, functional biomaterials and biofuel production to therapeutics and diagnosis

Speaker: Jinglin Fu - Rutgers University-Camden
Jinglin Fu was graduated with Bachelor’s (2003) and Master’s degree (2006) in Chemistry from Zhejiang University, and a Ph.D degree in Chemistry (2010) from Arizona State University. Dr. Fu was appointed as an assistant professor in Biochemistry at Rutgers University-Camden in 2013, and was promoted to an associate professor in 2019. Dr. Fu is also a full member of Center for Computational and Integrative Biology at Rutgers University. Dr Fu's research focuses on the development of biomimetic molecular systems with precise control of assembly on nanometer-scale, and the exploration of their applications in biocatalysis, smart biomaterials, molecular sensing and drug delivery. Dr. Fu has received several early-career awards, including the Cottrell College Science Award, Army Research Office Young Investigator and Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers.