Motility of an autonomous protein-based artificial motor that operates via a burnt-bridge principle.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38396042.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-45570-y and PMC identifier 10891099.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Inspired by biology, great progress has been made in creating artificial molecular motors. However, the dream of harnessing proteins - the building blocks selected by nature - to design autonomous motors has so far remained elusive. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of the Lawnmower, an autonomous, protein-based artificial molecular motor comprised of a spherical hub decorated with proteases. Its "burnt-bridge" motion is directed by cleavage of a peptide lawn, promoting motion towards unvisited substrate. We find that Lawnmowers exhibit directional motion with average speeds of up to 80 nm/s, comparable to biological motors. By selectively patterning the peptide lawn on microfabricated tracks, we furthermore show that the Lawnmower is capable of track-guided motion. Our work opens an avenue towards nanotechnology applications of artificial protein motors.
Medical subject headings
- Nanotechnology
- Molecular Motor Proteins