Biomolecular assembly is a key driving force in nearly all life processes, providing structure, information storage, and communication within cells and at the whole organism level. These assembly processes rely on precise interactions between functional groups on nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates, and small molecules, and can be fine-tuned to span a range of time, length, and complexity scales. Recognizing the power of these motifs, researchers have sought to emulate and engineer biomolecular assemblies in the laboratory, with goals ranging from modulating cellular function to the creation of new polymeric materials. In most cases, engineering efforts are inspired or informed by understanding the structure and properties of naturally occurring assemblies, which has in turn fueled the development of predictive models that enable computational design of novel assemblies. This Review will focus on selected examples of protein assemblies, highlighting the story arc from initial discovery of an assembly, through initial engineering attempts, toward the ultimate goal of predictive design. The aim of this Review is to highlight areas where significant progress has been made, as well as to outline remaining challenges, as solving these challenges will be the key that unlocks the full power of biomolecules for advances in technology and medicine.

中文翻译：

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生物分子组装：从观察到预测设计。

生物分子组装是几乎所有生命过程的关键驱动力，提供细胞内和整个生物体水平的结构、信息存储和通信。这些组装过程依赖于核酸、蛋白质、碳水化合物和小分子上的官能团之间的精确相互作用，并且可以进行微调以跨越一系列时间、长度和复杂性尺度。认识到这些基序的力量，研究人员试图在实验室中模拟和设计生物分子组装体，其目标范围从调节细胞功能到创建新的聚合物材料。在大多数情况下，工程工作是通过了解自然发生的组件的结构和特性来激发或了解的，这反过来又推动了预测模型的发展，从而实现了新型组件的计算设计。本综述将重点关注蛋白质组装体的选定示例，重点介绍从组装体的最初发现到最初的工程尝试，再到预测设计的最终目标的故事弧。本次审查的目的是强调已经取得重大进展的领域，并概述仍然存在的挑战，因为解决这些挑战将是释放生物分子的全部力量以促进技术和医学进步的关键。