{"doi":"10.1038/s41586-023-05945-5","title":"Enhanced rare-earth separation with a metal-sensitive lanmodulin dimer","abstract":"Abstract Technologically critical rare-earth elements are notoriously difficult to separate, owing to their subtle differences in ionic radius and coordination number 1–3 . The natural lanthanide-binding protein lanmodulin (LanM) 4,5 is a sustainable alternative to conventional solvent-extraction-based separation 6 . Here we characterize a new LanM, from Hansschlegelia quercus ( Hans -LanM), with an oligomeric state sensitive to rare-earth ionic radius, the lanthanum(III)-induced dimer being >100-fold tighter than the dysprosium(III)-induced dimer. X-ray crystal structures illustrate how picometre-scale differences in radius between lanthanum(III) and dysprosium(III) are propagated to Hans -LanM’s quaternary structure through a carboxylate shift that rearranges a second-sphere hydrogen-bonding network. Comparison to the prototypal LanM from Methylorubrum extorquens reveals distinct metal coordination strategies, rationalizing Hans -LanM’s greater selectivity within the rare-earth elements. Finally, structure-guided mutagenesis of a key residue at the Hans- LanM dimer interface modulates dimerization in solution and enables single-stage, column-based separation of a neodymium(III)/dysprosium(III) mixture to >98% individual element purities. This work showcases the natural diversity of selective lanthanide recognition motifs, and it reveals rare-earth-sensitive dimerization as a biological principle by which to tune the performance of biomolecule-based separation processes.","journal":"Nature","year":2023,"id":315274,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":189,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9536,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1016264,"name":"Jonathan J. Jung","orcid":"0000-0002-2093-6207","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":272543,"name":"Chi‐Yun Lin","orcid":"0000-0001-6555-8767","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":582644,"name":"Ziye Dong","orcid":"0000-0002-0419-8523","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":274208,"name":"Neela H. Yennawar","orcid":"0000-0001-7278-659X","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1016265,"name":"Emily R. Featherston","orcid":"0000-0003-1338-6611","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1016266,"name":"Christina S. Kang-Yun","orcid":"0000-0001-5536-3253","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1016267,"name":"T. Hamilton","orcid":"0000-0001-8429-1500","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":58005,"name":"Dan M. Park","orcid":"0000-0002-6000-6805","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":642752,"name":"Amie K. Boal","orcid":"0000-0002-1234-8472","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":699368,"name":"Joseph A. Cotruvo","orcid":"0000-0003-4243-8257","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":871536,"name":"Joseph A. Mattocks","orcid":"0000-0003-1541-0187","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":71,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T01:06:25.560098Z","pmid":"37259003","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}