Primary Citation of Related Structures:   3VDX, 4D9J
PubMed Abstract: 
Designing protein molecules that will assemble into various kinds of ordered materials represents an important challenge in nanotechnology. We report the crystal structure of a 12-subunit protein cage that self-assembles by design to form a tetrahedral structure roughly 16 nanometers in diameter ...
Designing protein molecules that will assemble into various kinds of ordered materials represents an important challenge in nanotechnology. We report the crystal structure of a 12-subunit protein cage that self-assembles by design to form a tetrahedral structure roughly 16 nanometers in diameter. The strategy of fusing together oligomeric protein domains can be generalized to produce other kinds of cages or extended materials.
Organizational Affiliation: 
University of California Los Angeles Biomedical Engineering Interdepartmental Program, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.