Researchers have created "tiny self-assembling transport networks" that are controlled by DNA and fueled by nano-scale motors.
On its own, the system can assemble a network of tracks which can cover tens of micrometres in length, transport its cargo across those tracks, and then disassemble the network, a University of Oxford news release reported.
The inspiration for the project came from melanophore, which controls the color in fish cells. The nano-network's tracks come from a central source, the researchers compared it to the spokes on a bicycle wheel.
The researchers used fluorescent green dye as the "cargo," but hope the system will be able to bring compounds together to speed up chemical reactions in the future. The idea of a "self-assembling" system could also lead to future innovations.
"We first use assemblers to arrange the track into 'spokes', triggered by the introduction of ATP. We then send in shuttles with fluorescent green cargo which spread out across the track, covering it evenly. When we add more ATP, the shuttles all cluster in the centre of the track where the spokes meet. Next, we send signal shuttles along the tracks to tell the cargo-carrying shuttles to release the fluorescent cargo into the environment, where it disperses. We can also send shuttles programmed with 'dismantle' signals to the central hub, telling the tracks to break up," Adam Wollman, who conducted the research at Oxford University's Department of Physics, said.
The motor proteins work to transport the pigment along the network, and using a central source keeps the cells light-weight since the surrounding area is transparent and empty.
The system is based on a motor protein called kinesin, which is powered by ATP fuel. The kinesins move across the microscopic tracks carrying modules derived from strands of DNA. 'Assembler' nanobots made from two kinesin proteins are responsible for lying down the track. The "shuttles" that travel on the track only require one protein.
"DNA is an excellent building block for constructing synthetic molecular systems, as we can program it to do whatever we need," Wollman said. "We design the chemical structures of the DNA strands to control how they interact with each other. The shuttles can be used to either carry cargo or deliver signals to tell other shuttles what to do."
The study was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
