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Feedback regulation of crystal growth by buffering monomer concentration

Author

Listed:
  • Samuel W. Schaffter

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • Dominic Scalise

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • Terence M. Murphy

    (Our Lady of Lourdes High School)

  • Anusha Patel

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • Rebecca Schulman

    (Johns Hopkins University
    Johns Hopkins University
    Johns Hopkins University)

Abstract

Crystallization is a ubiquitous means of self-assembly that can organize matter over length scales orders of magnitude larger than those of the monomer units. Yet crystallization is notoriously difficult to control because it is exquisitely sensitive to monomer concentration, which changes as monomers are depleted during growth. Living cells control crystallization using chemical reaction networks that offset depletion by synthesizing or activating monomers to regulate monomer concentration, stabilizing growth conditions even as depletion rates change, and thus reliably yielding desired products. Using DNA nanotubes as a model system, here we show that coupling a generic reversible bimolecular monomer buffering reaction to a crystallization process leads to reliable growth of large, uniformly sized crystals even when crystal growth rates change over time. Buffering could be applied broadly as a simple means to regulate and sustain batch crystallization and could facilitate the self-assembly of complex, hierarchical synthetic structures.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel W. Schaffter & Dominic Scalise & Terence M. Murphy & Anusha Patel & Rebecca Schulman, 2020. "Feedback regulation of crystal growth by buffering monomer concentration," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-19882-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19882-8
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    Cited by:

    1. Siddharth Agarwal & Dino Osmanovic & Mahdi Dizani & Melissa A. Klocke & Elisa Franco, 2024. "Dynamic control of DNA condensation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.

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