| Self-assembly is a fundamental characteristic of biological molecules, and several, if not all, crucial organismal processes are contingent upon discrete stoichiometric complexes of biomolecules. The artificial control of such discrete assemblies is difficult. Previously documented methods to control assembly of biomolecules, in particular, cell surface molecules and multimeric peptide or protein assemblies have distinct shortcomings (i.e. harsh synthetic conditions). Herein is presented a novel method, use of a higher-ordered DNA scaffold with which to both control self assembly of small molecules for both cell receptor recognition, and to form multimeric protein complexes.;Chapter 1 gives examples and documents a brief evolution of chemical methods for biomolecular assembly using orthogonal templates. Chapter 2 explores ways by which artificially assembling cell surface molecules with tetrameric DNA quadruplexes and pentameric DNA pentaplexes can affect binding affinity to target proteins. In Chapter 3, methods to artificially assemble a-helix bundle proteins with DNA quadruplex, pentaplex, and triplex are presented. |
