Extended Data Fig. 4: The assembly behaviour of the 2C and 3C systems (Fig. 2) are well predicted by numerical simulations.
From: Functional advantages of building nanosystems using multiple molecular components
Top. Because the one-component system already folds into its active conformation, its activity remains linear with its concentration. Middle. The assembly of the two-components system induced by an increase of component A can be triggered at different [A]50% by increasing the concentration of the limiting component (here B). While [A]50% shifts towards higher concentration, the dynamic range (DR) shifts from 81-fold to 9-fold. Bottom. The assembly of the three-components system induced by an increase of component A can also be triggered at different [A]50% by increasing the concentration of the limiting components (here B and C). Interestingly, the [A]50% shifts from high to low concentration and shifts back to high concentration, while the dynamic range (DR) shifts from 729-fold to 9-fold. Of note, at a low concentration of components B and C, the overall yield of the 3-component system decreases in the presence of large excess of component A. This is because the system favours the formation of the two dimeric intermediates (here AB and AC) instead of the trimer (see also Fig. 3 and Extended Data Fig. 6). Numerical simulations are done using MATLAB® with a dimeric stability of −8 kcal·mol−1 (ΔG°Dim) and a trimeric stability of −16 kcal·mol−1 (ΔG°Tri) leading to an overall assembly stability of −24 kcal·mol−1 (ΔG°Ass = ΔG°Dim + ΔG°Tri).
