Proteins are nature’s primary building blocks for the construction of sophisticated molecular machines and dynamic materials, ranging from protein complexes such as photosystem II and nitrogenase that drive biogeochemical cycles to cytoskeletal assemblies and muscle fibers for motion. Such natural systems have inspired extensive efforts in the rational design of artificial protein assemblies in the last two decades. As molecular building blocks, proteins are highly complex, in terms of both their three-dimensional structures and chemical compositions. To enable control over the self-assembly of such complex molecules, scientists have devised many creative strategies by combining tools and principles of experimental and computational biophysics, supramolecular chemistry, inorganic chemistry, materials science, and polymer chemistry, among others. Owing to these innovative strategies, what started as a purely structure-building exercise two decades ago has, in short order, led to artificial protein assemblies with unprecedented structures and functions and protein-based materials with unusual properties. Our goal in this review is to give an overview of this exciting and highly interdisciplinary area of research, first outlining the design strategies and tools that have been devised for controlling protein self-assembly, then describing the diverse structures of artificial protein assemblies, and finally highlighting the emergent properties and functions of these assemblies.

中文翻译：

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蛋白质组装设计

蛋白质是自然界构建复杂分子机器和动态材料的主要组成部分，范围从驱动生物地球化学循环的光系统 II 和固氮酶等蛋白质复合物到用于运动的细胞骨架组件和肌纤维。在过去的二十年里，这种自然系统激发了人工蛋白质组装体合理设计方面的广泛努力。作为分子构件，蛋白质的三维结构和化学成分都非常复杂。为了能够控制此类复杂分子的自组装，科学家们通过结合实验和计算生物物理学、超分子化学、无机化学、材料科学和高分子化学等的工具和原理，设计了许多创造性策略。由于这些创新策略，二十年前开始的纯粹的结构构建活动已在短时间内产生了具有前所未有的结构和功能的人工蛋白质组装体以及具有不寻常特性的蛋白质材料。我们在这篇综述中的目标是概述这个令人兴奋且高度跨学科的研究领域，首先概述为控制蛋白质自组装而设计的设计策略和工具，然后描述人工蛋白质组装体的不同结构，最后强调这些组件的新兴属性和功能。