Motility of an Autonomous Protein-based Artificial Motor That Operates Via a Burnt-bridge Principle

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2024 Feb 23

PMID 38396042

Authors

Chapin S Korosec

Ivan N Unksov

Pradheebha Surendiran

Roman Lyttleton

Paul M G Curmi

Christopher N Angstmann

Ralf Eichhorn

Heiner Linke

Nancy R Forde

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

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.

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