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From 2011.igem.org

S-layer

S-layers in general

Molecular nanotechnology, especially nanobiotechnology starts to use and modify functionalize surfaces. Especially the immobilization of self-assembling biomolecules draws an increasing attention. The advantages of using immobilized enzymes in well-defined positions on nano-structured surfaces may even be greater. Self-assembly is an organization of molecules into defined structures, lowering the free energy of the system. Interaction between the molecules is non-covalent (e.g. hydrophobic-hydrophobic, van der Waals forces, molecular stacking) (Schäffer et al., 2007).

Many biomolecules such as protein, polysaccharides and lipid have the ability to self-assemble into different shapes (e.g. spherical, rod- or sheet-like shapes), allowing several specific functions as virus capsids, cytoskeleton components or extracellular surface layer protein. The so-called paracrystalline cell surface-layers (S-layers) are build up on S-layer proteins and are one of the most common surface structures in Bacteria and Archaea. They are regarded as the outmost cell envelope of prokaryotic organisms (Sleytr et al., 2007).