Research data on "Reconstitution of microtubule into GTP-responsive nanocapsules"

This repository contains the set of data shown in the paper "Reconstitution of microtubule into GTP-responsive nanocapsules", published on Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33156-5). All the input data needed to run the simulations and get the results are organized in 3 different folders: * `00-MDPFiles/` in this folder there are the mdp files for each step for Gromacs-MD simulations: energy minimization, nvt, npt, production with restraints and production without restraints. * `01-TubulinSystems/` the folder contains all the necessary files for the tubulin assembly MD simulations with and without glue (`SystemA_Glue/`, `SystemA_noGlue/`, `SystemB_Glue/`, `SystemB_noGlue/`). * `02-OnlyGlue/` the folder contains all the files needed for the the atomistic MD simulations of the glue in water

Reconstitution of microtubule into GTP-responsive nanocapsules

Nanocapsules that collapse in response to guanosine triphosphate (GTP) have the potential as drug carriers for efficiently curing diseases caused by cancer and RNA viruses because GTP is present at high levels in such diseased cells and tissues. However, known GTP-responsive carriers also respond to adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is abundant in normal cells as well. Here, we report the elaborate reconstitution of microtubule into a nanocapsule that selectively responds to GTP. When the tubulin monomer from microtubule is incubated at 37 degrees C with a mixture of GTP (17 mol%) and nonhydrolysable GTP* (83 mol%), a tubulin nanosheet forms. Upon addition of photoreactive molecular glue to the resulting dispersion, the nanosheet is transformed into a nanocapsule. Cell death results when a doxorubicin-containing nanocapsule, after photochemically crosslinked for properly stabilizing its shell, is taken up into cancer cells that overexpress GTP.GTP-triggered release from drug carriers has huge potential in cancer therapy but current carriers suffers from off target release due to ATP also acting as a trigger. Here, the authors report on the development of a microtubule capsule which is engineered to be responsive to only GTP not ATP and demonstrate targeted drug delivery