Bacteriophage Tail Fibers as a Basis for Structured Assemblies
Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, have features that could be adapted to create a self-patterning nanoscale protein structures or other nano-scale systems. This book will explore using the presence oflarge segments of beta structure arising from mostly local interactions, to support the proposition that tail fibers can withstand a variety of modifications without compromising the overall structure and function of the bacteriophage. The book will show how the authors have we have constructed and tested a variety of tail fibers altered in gp 37. These include deletions to alter the overall length and modifications to a key segment where assembly is initiated to improve assembly in vitro. In this monograph, we will review what is known about the structure of the bacteriophage T4 tail fiber system and present a model of how it can be adapted into a controlled self-assembling system. We further review the published and unpublished work we have completed on tail fiber purification and modifications.