Claims
- 1. A method for remotely altering a property of a protein, the method comprising the steps of:
a) associating a modulator with a protein; and b) exposing the modulator to an external field, the external field causing the modulator to alter a property of the protein.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said modulator is linked to said protein.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said modulator is covalently linked to said protein.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said modulator is selected from the group consisting of organic and inorganic modulators that are responsive to an external field.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said modulator is selected from the group consisting of metal nanoparticles, semiconducting nanoparticles, and chromophores.
- 6. The method of claim 5, wherein said modulator is selected from the group consisting of non-colloidal gold, colloidal gold, silicon, ruthenium, cadmium selenide, gold maleamide, and N-hydroxysuccinimidyl gold.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said external field is selected from the group consisting of magnetic, electric, and electromagnetic fields.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein said modulator transfers energy to protein upon exposure to said external field.
- 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said modulator heats said protein upon exposure to said external field.
- 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said modulator cools said protein upon exposure to said external field.
- 11. A method for preparing a protein that is responsive to an external field, the method comprising the step of associating a protein with a modulator that is responsive to an external field.
- 12. The method of claim 11, comprising the step of covalently attaching said modulator to said protein.
- 13. The method of claim 12, wherein said modulator is attached to an amino acid side chain on said protein.
- 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said modulator is attached to a glycosylated amino acid motif.
- 15. The method of claim 14, wherein said motif is asn-X-ser/thr.
- 16. The method of claim 12, wherein said modulator is attached to the N-terminus of said protein.
- 17. The method of claim 12, wherein said modulator is attached to the C-terminus of said protein.
- 18. A protein composition that is responsive to an external field, the composition comprising:
a) a protein; and, b) associated therewith, a modulator that is responsive to an external field so as to exert a physical effect on the protein in the presence of the field.
- 19. The composition of claim 18, wherein said modulator is covalently attached to said protein.
- 20. The composition of claim 18, wherein said modulator is attached to the N-terminus of said protein.
- 21. The composition of claim 18, wherein said modulator is attached to the C-terminus of said protein.
- 22. The composition of claim 18 wherein said modulator is attached to an internal amino acid of said protein.
- 23. The composition of claim 18, wherein said protein is selected from the group consisting of monomeric enzymes, multimeric enzymes, monomeric structural proteins, multimeric structural proteins, monomeric regulatory proteins, and multimeric regulatory proteins.
- 24. The composition of claim 18, comprising between 1 and 5 modulators per 100 amino acids.
- 25. The composition of claim 18, wherein said modulator is a first modulator, further comprising a second modulator.
- 26. The composition of claim 25, wherein said first and second modulators are responsive to different first and second signals.
- 27. The composition of claim 26, wherein said first and second modulators are different chromophores.
- 28. The composition of claim 26, wherein said first and second modulators are nanoparticles of different sizes with different resonant frequencies.
- 29. A modulator adapted for use with a protein comprising a field-responsive nanoparticle, the modulator being capable of association with a protein and, when so associated, altering a property of the protein upon exposure to an external field.
- 30. A method for regulating transcription, the method comprising the step of exposing a modified transcription repressor to an external field, wherein said modified transcription repressor is associated with a modulator that is responsive to said external field.
- 31. An enzyme that is remotely regulated, the enzyme comprising a catalytic domain associated with a modulator that is responsive to an external field, wherein exposure of the modulator to the field causes regulation of enzyme activity.
- 32. An enzyme that is remotely regulated, the enzyme comprising a catalytic domain and a regulatory domain, wherein said regulatory domain is associated with a modulator that is responsive to an external field, and exposure of the modulator to the field causes regulation of enzyme activity.
- 33. The method of claim 1, wherein said property is enzyme activity.
- 34. The method of claim 1, wherein said property affects polymerization of said protein.
- 35. The method of claim 1, wherein said property affects the structural stability of said protein.
- 36. The method of claim 12, wherein said protein is attached to a PNA molecule, and said modulator is attached to said PNA molecule.
- 37. The method of claim 1, wherein said property affects an intermolecular interaction.
- 38. The method of claim 37, wherein said intermolecular interaction is selected from the group consisting of regulatory, oligomerization, multimerization, protein/RNA, protein/DNA, and protein/PNA interactions.
- 39. A method for controlling ion flow across through an ion channel, the method comprising the step of exposing a modified ion channel to an external field, wherein said modified ion channel is associated with a modulator that is responsive to said external field.
- 40. The method of claim 39, wherein said ion channel is located in a biological membrane.
- 41. The method of claim 12, wherein said modulator is attached to an internal amino acid of said protein.
- 42. A method for remotely altering a property of a protein, the method comprising the steps of:
a) associating an antenna with a protein; and b) exposing the antenna to an external field, the external field causing the antenna to alter a property of the protein.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to, and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/276,313 filed on Mar. 16, 2001, and 60/218,312 filed on Jul. 14, 2000, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60276313 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
|
60218312 |
Jul 2000 |
US |