Title
Molecular Insight into the Self-Assembly Process of Cellulose Iβ Microfibril
Date Issued
01 August 2022
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Thu T.T.M.
Moreira R.A.
Weber S.A.L.
Institute of Fundamental Technological Research
Publisher(s)
MDPI
Abstract
The self-assembly process of β-D-glucose oligomers on the surface of cellulose Iβ microfibril involves crystallization, and this process is analyzed herein, in terms of the length and flexibility of the oligomer chain, by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The characterization of this process involves the structural relaxation of the oligomer, the recognition of the cellulose I microfibril, and the formation of several hydrogen bonds (HBs). This process is monitored on the basis of the changes in non-bonded energies and the interaction with hydrophilic and hydrophobic crystal faces. The oligomer length is considered a parameter for capturing insight into the energy landscape and its stability in the bound form with the cellulose I microfibril. We notice that the oligomer–microfibril complexes are more stable by increasing the number of hydrogen bond interactions, which is consistent with a gain in electrostatic energy. Our studies highlight the interaction with hydrophilic crystal planes on the microfibril and the acceptor role of the flexible oligomers in HB formation. In addition, we study by MD simulation the interaction between a protofibril and the cellulose I microfibril in solution. In this case, the main interaction consists of the formation of hydrogen bonds between hydrophilic faces, and those HBs involve donor groups in the protofibril.
Volume
23
Issue
15
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Bioquímica, Biología molecular
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85137107593
Source
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
ISSN of the container
16616596
Sponsor(s)
A.B.P. acknowledges financial support from the National Science Center, Poland, under grant 2017/26/D/NZ1/00466, as well as the grant MAB PLUS/2019/11 from the Foundation for Polish Science. In addition, several computational resources were supported by the PL-GRID infrastructure.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus