Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Fluidic switching in nanochannels for the control of Inchworm: a synthetic biomolecular motor with a power stroke.

Niman, Cassandra LU ; Zuckermann, Martin J ; Balaz, Martina LU ; Tegenfeldt, Jonas LU orcid ; Curmi, Paul M G ; Forde, Nancy R and Linke, Heiner LU orcid (2014) In Nanoscale 6(24). p.15008-15019
Abstract
Synthetic molecular motors typically take nanometer-scale steps through rectification of thermal motion. Here we propose Inchworm, a DNA-based motor that employs a pronounced power stroke to take micrometer-scale steps on a time scale of seconds, and we design, fabricate, and analyze the nanofluidic device needed to operate the motor. Inchworm is a kbp-long, double-stranded DNA confined inside a nanochannel in a stretched configuration. Motor stepping is achieved through externally controlled changes in salt concentration (changing the DNA's extension), coordinated with ligand-gated binding of the DNA's ends to the functionalized nanochannel surface. Brownian dynamics simulations predict that Inchworm's stall force is determined by its... (More)
Synthetic molecular motors typically take nanometer-scale steps through rectification of thermal motion. Here we propose Inchworm, a DNA-based motor that employs a pronounced power stroke to take micrometer-scale steps on a time scale of seconds, and we design, fabricate, and analyze the nanofluidic device needed to operate the motor. Inchworm is a kbp-long, double-stranded DNA confined inside a nanochannel in a stretched configuration. Motor stepping is achieved through externally controlled changes in salt concentration (changing the DNA's extension), coordinated with ligand-gated binding of the DNA's ends to the functionalized nanochannel surface. Brownian dynamics simulations predict that Inchworm's stall force is determined by its entropic spring constant and is ∼0.1 pN. Operation of the motor requires periodic cycling of four different buffers surrounding the DNA inside a nanochannel, while keeping constant the hydrodynamic load force on the DNA. We present a two-layer fluidic device incorporating 100 nm-radius nanochannels that are connected through a few-nm-wide slit to a microfluidic system used for in situ buffer exchanges, either diffusionally (zero flow) or with controlled hydrodynamic flow. Combining experiment with finite-element modeling, we demonstrate the device's key performance features and experimentally establish achievable Inchworm stepping times of the order of seconds or faster. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nanoscale
volume
6
issue
24
pages
15008 - 15019
publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
external identifiers
  • pmid:25367216
  • wos:000345458200053
  • scopus:84911876729
  • pmid:25367216
ISSN
2040-3372
DOI
10.1039/c4nr04701j
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
108aa335-3a79-4115-9e91-d93497442784 (old id 4820279)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:23:34
date last changed
2023-09-28 01:35:47
@article{108aa335-3a79-4115-9e91-d93497442784,
  abstract     = {{Synthetic molecular motors typically take nanometer-scale steps through rectification of thermal motion. Here we propose Inchworm, a DNA-based motor that employs a pronounced power stroke to take micrometer-scale steps on a time scale of seconds, and we design, fabricate, and analyze the nanofluidic device needed to operate the motor. Inchworm is a kbp-long, double-stranded DNA confined inside a nanochannel in a stretched configuration. Motor stepping is achieved through externally controlled changes in salt concentration (changing the DNA's extension), coordinated with ligand-gated binding of the DNA's ends to the functionalized nanochannel surface. Brownian dynamics simulations predict that Inchworm's stall force is determined by its entropic spring constant and is ∼0.1 pN. Operation of the motor requires periodic cycling of four different buffers surrounding the DNA inside a nanochannel, while keeping constant the hydrodynamic load force on the DNA. We present a two-layer fluidic device incorporating 100 nm-radius nanochannels that are connected through a few-nm-wide slit to a microfluidic system used for in situ buffer exchanges, either diffusionally (zero flow) or with controlled hydrodynamic flow. Combining experiment with finite-element modeling, we demonstrate the device's key performance features and experimentally establish achievable Inchworm stepping times of the order of seconds or faster.}},
  author       = {{Niman, Cassandra and Zuckermann, Martin J and Balaz, Martina and Tegenfeldt, Jonas and Curmi, Paul M G and Forde, Nancy R and Linke, Heiner}},
  issn         = {{2040-3372}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{24}},
  pages        = {{15008--15019}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society of Chemistry}},
  series       = {{Nanoscale}},
  title        = {{Fluidic switching in nanochannels for the control of Inchworm: a synthetic biomolecular motor with a power stroke.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c4nr04701j}},
  doi          = {{10.1039/c4nr04701j}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}