Tubulin architectures by cationic polymer molecular switch

Abstract

Tubulins are protein building blocks that are naturally preprogrammed to assemble into cytoskeletal microtubules (MTs). In this thesis, cationic polymers are used as a molecular switch, which triggers two-dimensional (2D) conformational changes of tubulins, to control tubulin-based nano-architectures. Synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveal ‘tubulin double helices’ and tubulin double helix-based architectures in nanoscale. The new architectures are controlled by the size and concentration of cationic polymers, which suggests a mechanism of the molecular switch. Finally, tubulin-based nanotubes were developed for the application as anticancer drug delivery carriers.