Fundamental template information

Caspar and Klug (1962) made an important distinction between two fundamental types of assembly processes. True self-assembly was conceptualized as a series of reactions relying on the propensity of subunits to condense and form assembled structures strictly as a result of the information encoded in the architecture of the components. On the other hand, template-directed assembly may be considered as a process depending on the presence of a separate template that imparts structural constraints on the pathway for constructing the final assembled structure. True self-assembly is observed, for example, in the formation of many oligomeric proteins. Indeed, Friedman and Beychok (1979) have re-... 

The goal of this chapter is not to present an exhaustive collection of all of the research on this topic, but to provide a clear tutorial-style overview of the fundamental concepts aided by illustrative examples and informative schematics. Three types of ion pair templation strategies are described, namely, the use of integrated ionic components, the use of discrete ion templates, and traceless ion pair templation. These approaches can produce systems capable of two different functional behaviors by virtue of their synergistic properties. 

Elaboration of the new principle of complementary autoreplication explained the mechanism of reproduction of genetic material (replication of DNA) and transmission of portions of this information for its realization (DNA-dependent RNA S5mthesis). Elaboration of the new principle of protein synthesis on RNA templates and the related principle of the nucleotide-amino acid code explained the mechanism of protein sjmthesis, a fundamental process of life. 

Organisms are defined by their genetic code - DNA. A detailed knowledge of the mechanisms that duplicate, repair and decode the genetic information is fundamental to our understanding of life itself. Inside the nucleus, DNA is associated with proteins to make chromatin, which forms the template for function. The processes that control chromatin function are presently mostly described in terms of individual DNA-protein interactions. 

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