Biomimetic and Biological Nanoarchitectonics

Abstract

A post-nanotechnology concept has been assigned to an emerging concept, nanoarchitectonics. Nanoarchitectonics aims to establish a discipline in which functional materials are fabricated from nano-scale components such as atoms, molecules, and nanomaterials using various techniques. Nanoarchitectonics opens ways to form a more unified paradigm by integrating nanotechnology with organic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, material chemistry, microfabrication technology, and biotechnology. On the other hand, biological systems consist of rational organization of constituent molecules. Their structures have highly asymmetric and hierarchical features that allow for chained functional coordination, signal amplification, and vector-like energy and signal flow. The process of nanoarchitectonics is based on the premise of combining several different processes, which makes it easier to obtain a hierarchical structure. Therefore, nanoarchitectonics is a more suitable methodology for creating highly functional systems based on structural asymmetry and hierarchy like biosystems. The creation of functional materials by nanoarchitectonics is somewhat similar to the creation of functional systems in biological systems. It can be said that the goal of nanoarchitectonics is to create highly functional systems similar to those found in biological systems. This review article summarizes the synthesis of biomimetic and biological molecules and their functional structure formation from various viewpoints, from the molecular level to the cellular level. Several recent examples are arranged and categorized to illustrate such a trend with sections of (i) synthetic nanoarchitectonics for bio-related units, (ii) self-assembly nanoarchitectonics with bio-related units, (iii) nanoarchitectonics with nucleic acids, (iv) nanoarchitectonics with peptides, (v) nanoarchitectonics with proteins, and (vi) bio-related nanoarchitectonics in conjugation with materials.

Advances in Nanoarchitectonics: A Review of “Static” and “Dynamic” Particle Assembly Methods

“…This process is governed by molecular interactions that seek thermodynamic equilibrium and a decrease in the system’s free energy [ 15 ]. It entails the conversion of disordered molecular entities into organized structures through specific local interactions among the components.…”

“…However, a limitation of static methods lies in their potential constraints on structural diversity, as the final configuration is contingent on the properties of the particles involved [ 9 ]. Dynamic particle assembly methods offer advantages like versatility [ 14 ] with various materials, mass production scalability [ 15 ], and precise assembly control [ 16 ]. They leverage self-organization principles, simplifying manufacturing and enabling the creation of responsive materials.…”

Biomolecular glass with amino acid and peptide nanoarchitectonics

“…Amino acids and peptides are abundant biomolecules in living organisms and are widely used for the development of nanoarchitectured materials with functional performances (10,11). The materials with amino acid or peptide nanoarchitectonics are considered completely eco-friendly because they can be reused in ecological system (12)(13)(14)(15).…”

Functional chromopeptide nanoarchitectonics: molecular design, self-assembly and biological applications

“…[1][2][3] Chromoproteins are a class of functional proteins bearing a chromophoric group, which are used as building blocks for achieving diversified nanoarchitectonics and creating high functional systems similar to biological systems. [4][5][6] Typical examples of natural chromoproteins include the fluorescent protein family, haemoglobin, flavoproteins, ferritin, and chloroplastin. [7][8][9] These proteins are characterized by electronic absorption in the visible or near-infrared (NIR) spectral range and may serve as enzymes, photoreceptors, photocatalysts or electron transferring elements.…”