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Deshmukh AP, Zheng W, Chuang C, Bailey AD, Williams JA, Sletten EM, Egelman EH, Caram JR. Near-atomic-resolution structure of J-aggregated helical light-harvesting nanotubes. Nat Chem 2024:10.1038/s41557-023-01432-6. [PMID: 38316987 DOI: 10.1038/s41557-023-01432-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Cryo-electron microscopy has delivered a resolution revolution for biological self-assemblies, yet only a handful of structures have been solved for synthetic supramolecular materials. Particularly for chromophore supramolecular aggregates, high-resolution structures are necessary for understanding and modulating the long-range excitonic coupling. Here, we present a 3.3 Å structure of prototypical biomimetic light-harvesting nanotubes derived from an amphiphilic cyanine dye (C8S3-Cl). Helical 3D reconstruction directly visualizes the chromophore packing that controls the excitonic properties. Our structure clearly shows a brick layer arrangement, revising the previously hypothesized herringbone arrangement. Furthermore, we identify a new non-biological supramolecular motif-interlocking sulfonates-that may be responsible for the slip-stacked packing and J-aggregate nature of the light-harvesting nanotubes. This work shows how independently obtained native-state structures complement photophysical measurements and will enable accurate understanding of (excitonic) structure-function properties, informing materials design for light-harvesting chromophore aggregates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arundhati P Deshmukh
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Weili Zheng
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Chern Chuang
- Chemical Physics Theory Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Austin D Bailey
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jillian A Williams
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ellen M Sletten
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Edward H Egelman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Justin R Caram
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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2
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Kelestemur S, Maity P, Visaveliya NR, Halpern D, Parveen S, Khatoon F, Khalil A, Greenberg M, Jiang Q, Ng K, Eisele DM. Solution-based Supramolecular Hierarchical Assembly of Frenkel Excitonic Nanotubes Driven by Gold Nanoparticle Formation and Temperature. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:329-339. [PMID: 38157497 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c05681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Translating nature's successful design principle of solution-based supramolecular self-assembling to broad applications─ranging from renewable energy and information technology to nanomedicine─requires a fundamental understanding of supramolecular hierarchical assembly. Though the forces behind self-assembly (e.g., hydrophobicity) are known, the specific mechanism by which monomers form the hierarchical assembly still remains an open question. A crucial step toward formulating a complete mechanism is understanding not only how the monomer's specific molecular structure but also how manifold environmental conditions impact the self-assembling process. Here, we elucidate the complex correlation between the environmental self-assembling conditions and the resulting structural properties by utilizing a well-characterized model system: well-defined supramolecular Frenkel excitonic nanotubes (NTs), self-assembled from cyanine dye molecules in aqueous solution, which further self-assemble into bundled nanotubes (b-NTs). The NTs and b-NTs inhabit distinct spectroscopic signatures, which allows the use of steady-state absorption spectroscopy to monitor the transition from NTs to b-NTs directly. Specifically, we investigate the impact of temperature (ranging from 23 °C, 55 °C, 70 °C, 85 °C, up to 100 °C) during in situ formation of gold nanoparticles to determine their role in the formation of b-NTs. The considered time regime for the self-assembling process ranges from 1 min to 8 days. With our work, we contribute to a basic understanding of how environmental conditions impact solution-based hierarchical supramolecular self-assembly in both the thermodynamic and the kinetic regime.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seda Kelestemur
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The City College of New York at The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10031, United States
- Biotechnology Department, Institute of Health Sciences, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, 34668, Turkey
| | - Piyali Maity
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The City College of New York at The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10031, United States
| | - Nikunjkumar R Visaveliya
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The City College of New York at The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10031, United States
| | - Damien Halpern
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The City College of New York at The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10031, United States
| | - Sadiyah Parveen
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The City College of New York at The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10031, United States
| | - Firdaus Khatoon
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The City College of New York at The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10031, United States
| | - Ali Khalil
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The City College of New York at The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10031, United States
| | - Matthew Greenberg
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The City College of New York at The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10031, United States
| | - Qingrui Jiang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The City College of New York at The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10031, United States
| | - Kara Ng
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The City College of New York at The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10031, United States
- PhD Program in Chemistry, Graduate Center of The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10016, United States
| | - Dorthe M Eisele
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The City College of New York at The City University of New York, New York City, New York 10031, United States
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3
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Manrho M, Krishnaswamy SR, Kriete B, Patmanidis I, de Vries AH, Marrink SJ, Jansen TLC, Knoester J, Pshenichnikov MS. Watching Molecular Nanotubes Self-Assemble in Real Time. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:22494-22503. [PMID: 37800477 PMCID: PMC10591479 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c07103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
Molecular self-assembly is a fundamental process in nature that can be used to develop novel functional materials for medical and engineering applications. However, their complex mechanisms make the short-lived stages of self-assembly processes extremely hard to reveal. In this article, we track the self-assembly process of a benchmark system, double-walled molecular nanotubes, whose structure is similar to that found in biological and synthetic systems. We selectively dissolved the outer wall of the double-walled system and used the inner wall as a template for the self-reassembly of the outer wall. The reassembly kinetics were followed in real time using a combination of microfluidics, spectroscopy, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, molecular dynamics simulations, and exciton modeling. We found that the outer wall self-assembles through a transient disordered patchwork structure: first, several patches of different orientations are formed, and only on a longer time scale will the patches interact with each other and assume their final preferred global orientation. The understanding of patch formation and patch reorientation marks a crucial step toward steering self-assembly processes and subsequent material engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marìck Manrho
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sundar Raj Krishnaswamy
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Björn Kriete
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ilias Patmanidis
- Groningen
Biomolecular Sciences and Biothechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747
AG Groningen, The
Netherlands
- Department
of Chemistry, Aarhus University, Langelandsgade 140, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Alex H. de Vries
- Groningen
Biomolecular Sciences and Biothechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747
AG Groningen, The
Netherlands
| | - Siewert J. Marrink
- Groningen
Biomolecular Sciences and Biothechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747
AG Groningen, The
Netherlands
| | - Thomas L. C. Jansen
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jasper Knoester
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Faculty
of Science, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Maxim S. Pshenichnikov
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
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Krishnaswamy SR, Gabrovski IA, Patmanidis I, Stuart MCA, de Vries AH, Pshenichnikov MS. Cryogenic TEM imaging of artificial light harvesting complexes outside equilibrium. Sci Rep 2022; 12:5552. [PMID: 35365716 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09496-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The energy transport in natural light-harvesting complexes can be explored in laboratory conditions via self-assembled supramolecular structures. One such structure arises from the amphiphilic dye C8S3 molecules, which self-assemble in an aqueous medium to a double-wall cylindrical nanotube reminiscent of natural light-harvesting complexes found in green sulphur bacteria. In this paper, we report a way to investigate the structure of inner nanotubes (NTs) alone by dissolving the outer NTs in a microfluidic setting. The resulting thermodynamically unstable system was rapidly frozen, preventing the reassembly of the outer NT from the dissolved molecules, and imaged using cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). The experimental cryo-TEM images and the molecular structure were compared by simulating high-resolution TEM images, which were based on the molecular modelling of C8S3 NTs. We found that the inner NT with outer walls removed during the flash-dilution process had a similar size to the parent double-walled NTs. Moreover, no structural inhomogeneity was observed in the inner NT after flash-dilution. This opens up exciting possibilities for functionalisation of inner NTs before the reassembly of the outer NT occurs, which can be broadly extended to modify the intra-architecture of other self-assembled nanostructures.
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Kriete B, Bondarenko AS, Alessandri R, Patmanidis I, Krasnikov VV, Jansen TLC, Marrink SJ, Knoester J, Pshenichnikov MS. Molecular versus Excitonic Disorder in Individual Artificial Light-Harvesting Systems. J Am Chem Soc 2020; 142:18073-18085. [PMID: 32985187 PMCID: PMC7582617 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c07392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Natural light-harvesting antennae employ a dense array of chromophores to optimize energy transport via the formation of delocalized excited states (excitons), which are critically sensitive to spatio-energetic variations of the molecular structure. Identifying the origin and impact of such variations is highly desirable for understanding and predicting functional properties yet hard to achieve due to averaging of many overlapping responses from individual systems. Here, we overcome this problem by measuring the heterogeneity of synthetic analogues of natural antennae-self-assembled molecular nanotubes-by two complementary approaches: single-nanotube photoluminescence spectroscopy and ultrafast 2D correlation. We demonstrate remarkable homogeneity of the nanotube ensemble and reveal that ultrafast (∼50 fs) modulation of the exciton frequencies governs spectral broadening. Using multiscale exciton modeling, we show that the dominance of homogeneous broadening at the exciton level results from exchange narrowing of strong static disorder found for individual molecules within the nanotube. The detailed characterization of static and dynamic disorder at the exciton as well as the molecular level presented here opens new avenues in analyzing and predicting dynamic exciton properties, such as excitation energy transport.
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Affiliation(s)
- Björn Kriete
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Anna S. Bondarenko
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Riccardo Alessandri
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Groningen
Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ilias Patmanidis
- Groningen
Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Victor V. Krasnikov
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Thomas L. C. Jansen
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Siewert J. Marrink
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Groningen
Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jasper Knoester
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Maxim S. Pshenichnikov
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
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6
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Patmanidis I, de Vries AH, Wassenaar TA, Wang W, Portale G, Marrink SJ. Structural characterization of supramolecular hollow nanotubes with atomistic simulations and SAXS. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2020; 22:21083-21093. [PMID: 32945311 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp03282d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Self-assembled nanostructures arise when building blocks spontaneously organize into ordered aggregates that exhibit different properties compared to the disorganized monomers. Here, we study an amphiphilic cyanine dye (C8S3) that is known to self-assemble into double-walled, hollow, nanotubes with interesting optical properties. The molecular packing of the dyes inside the nanotubes, however, remains elusive. To reveal the structural features of the C8S3 nanotubes, we performed atomistic Molecular Dynamics simulations of preformed bilayers and nanotubes. We find that different packing arrangements lead to stable structures, in which the tails of the C8S3 molecules are interdigitated. Our results are verified by SAXS experiments. Together our data provide a detailed structural characterization of the C8S3 nanotubes. Furthermore, our approach was able to resolve the ambiguity inherent from cryo-TEM measurements in calculating the wall thickness of similar systems. The insights obtained are expected to be generally useful for understanding and designing other supramolecular assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilias Patmanidis
- Groningen Biomolecular Science and Biotechnology Institute and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
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