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Chemistry LibreTexts

19: Self-Assembly

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Cooperative self-assembly refers to the the spontaneous formation of sophisticated structures from many molecular units. Generally, we think of this as involving many molecules (cooperative units), although single- and bi-molecular problems can be wrapped into this description, as in the helix–coil transition. Examples include:

  • Peptides and proteins
    • Protein folding, binding, and association
    • Amyloid fibrilization
    • Assembly of multi-protein complexes
    • Viral capsid self-assembly
  • Nucleic acids
    • DNA hybridization, DNA origami
    • Folding and association of RNA structures: pseudoknots, ribozym es
  • Lipids
    • Bilayer structures
    • Micelle formation

Although molecular structures also assemble with the input of energy, the emphasis here in on spontaneous self-assembly in the absence of external input.


This page titled 19: Self-Assembly is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Andrei Tokmakoff via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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