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Motility of an autonomous protein-based artificial motor that operates via a burnt-bridge principle

Korosec, Chapin S. ; Unksov, Ivan N. LU ; Surendiran, Pradheebha LU ; Lyttleton, Roman LU ; Curmi, Paul M.G. ; Angstmann, Christopher N. ; Eichhorn, Ralf ; Linke, Heiner LU orcid and Forde, Nancy R. (2024) In Nature Communications 15(1).
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... (More)

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.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Communications
volume
15
issue
1
article number
1511
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:38396042
  • scopus:85185909129
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/s41467-024-45570-y
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7007f7a5-58b4-4fa1-8598-b1ce0f1ddfda
date added to LUP
2024-03-14 12:08:30
date last changed
2024-04-25 08:47:24
@article{7007f7a5-58b4-4fa1-8598-b1ce0f1ddfda,
  abstract     = {{<p>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.</p>}},
  author       = {{Korosec, Chapin S. and Unksov, Ivan N. and Surendiran, Pradheebha and Lyttleton, Roman and Curmi, Paul M.G. and Angstmann, Christopher N. and Eichhorn, Ralf and Linke, Heiner and Forde, Nancy R.}},
  issn         = {{2041-1723}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Communications}},
  title        = {{Motility of an autonomous protein-based artificial motor that operates via a burnt-bridge principle}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45570-y}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41467-024-45570-y}},
  volume       = {{15}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}