A small robot made of DNA (A “Nano-robot” built entirely from DNA) and used it to study cellular processes that are invisible to the eye… You could be forgiven for thinking this is science fiction, but in fact it is the subject of serious research by scientists from Inserm, CNRS and Université de Montpellier at the Center for Structural Biology in Montpellier[1].
This extremely innovative “nano-robot” (A “Nano-robot” built entirely from DNA) should enable a closer examination of the mechanical forces operating at the microscopic level, which are essential for many biological and pathological processes. This is described in a new study published in Nature Communications.
Our cells are exposed to mechanical forces acting on a microscopic scale that trigger biological signals necessary for many cellular processes involved in the normal functioning of our body or the development of diseases.
For example, the sensation of touch is partially conditioned by the use of mechanical forces in specific cell receptors (his discovery was awarded this year with the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine).
Dysfunction of this cellular mechanosensitivity is associated with many diseases – for example, cancer: cancer cells migrate in the body by echoing and constantly adapting to the mechanical properties of their micro environment. Such adaptation is possible only because specific forces are detected by mechanoreceptors that transmit information to the cytoskeleton of the cell.
Currently, our knowledge of these molecular mechanisms involved in cellular mechanosensitivity is still very limited. Many technologies are already available to apply controlled forces and study these mechanisms, but they have many limitations. In particular, they are very expensive and do not allow us to study many cell receptors at the same time, so their use is time-consuming if we want to collect a large amount of data.
DNA origami structure
To propose an alternative, a research team led by Inserm researcher Gaëtan Bellot from the Center for Structural Biology (Inserm/CNRS/Université de Montpellier) decided to use the DNA origami method. This makes it possible to self-assemble 3D nanostructures into a predefined shape using the DNA molecule as a building material. Over the past ten years, technology has made great strides in the field of nanotechnology.
This allowed the researchers to design a “nano-robot” consisting of three DNA origami structures. In nanometric size, it therefore corresponds to the size of a human cell. This makes it possible for the first time to set and control force with a resolution of 1 piconewton, which is one trillionth of a newton – where 1 newton is equivalent to the force of a finger pressing on a pen click. This is the first time that a man-made, self-assembled, DNA-based object can be powered with this precision.
Such a tool is very valuable for basic research, as it can be used to better understand the molecular mechanisms involved in cellular sensitivity and to discover new cellular receptors that are sensitive to mechanical forces. Thanks to the robot, scientists are also able to study more precisely at what point, when force is applied, important signaling pathways for many biological and pathological processes are activated at the cellular level.
