Abstract

Protein cages, convex polyhedral protein containers self-assembled from multiple copies of identical protein subunits, are pillars of nanotechnology. They include naturally occurring virus capsids (virus-like particles) and artificially designed protein cages, which exhibit a plethora of spherical and tubular morphologies. In this talk I will present a mathematical analysis of tubular particles. It has been observed that the self-assembly of variants of the Aquifex aeolicus Lumazine Synthase (AaLS) pentamers leads into two geometrically distinct tubular structures. I will present the mathematical principles of tubular architectures that have recently been observed experimentally. This allows me to classify all geometrically viable options and illustrates why only two types of tubes are biologically feasible. Farzad Fatehi1, Lukasz Koziej2, Yusuke Azuma2, Reidun Twarock2 1University of York, 2Jagiellonian University