Recently, we proposed a small molecular “inducing ligand” strategy to assemble proteins into highly-ordered structures via dual non-covalent interactions, i.e. carbohydrate–protein interaction and dimerization of Rhodamine B. Using this approach, artificial protein microtubules were successfully constructed. In this study, we find that these microtubules exhibit a perfect CO₂ responsiveness; assembly and disassembly of these microtubules were nicely controlled by the alternative passage of CO₂ and N₂. Upon the injection of CO₂, a negative net-charged SBA turns into a neutral or positive net-charged SBA, which elongated, to some extent, the effective distance between SBA and Rhodamine B, resulting in the disassociation of the Rhodamine B dimer. Further experimental and simulation results reveal that the CO₂-responsive mechanism differs from that of solubility change of the previously reported CO₂-responsive synthetic materials.

中文翻译：

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蛋白质微管的 CO _2可转换反应：行为和机制†

最近，我们提出了一种小分子“诱导配体”策略，以通过双重非共价相互作用将蛋白质组装成高度有序的结构，即碳水化合物-蛋白质相互作用和若丹明B的二聚化。使用这种方法，成功构建了人工蛋白质微管。在这项研究中，我们发现这些微管表现出了完美的CO ₂响应能力。这些微管的组装和拆卸通过CO ₂和N ₂的交替通过很好地控制了。注入CO _2时，带负电荷的SBA变成中性或带正电荷的SBA，在一定程度上延长了SBA和若丹明B之间的有效距离，从而导致了若丹明B二聚体的解离。进一步的实验和模拟结果表明，CO ₂响应机理不同于先前报道的CO ₂响应合成材料的溶解度变化。