Molecules autonomously propelled by polymerizing DNA strands

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This 125 nm x 85 nm rectangular DNA origami (A) contains Rickettsia polymerization motors growing from closed-circle sites. Credit: Venkataraman et al. 2007 Nature.
This 125 nm x 85 nm rectangular DNA origami (“A”) contains Rickettsia polymerization motors growing from closed-circle sites. Credit: Venkataraman, et al. ©2007 Nature.

Scientists from the California Institute of Technology have fabricated a motor that runs autonomously, and is powered only by the free energy of DNA hybridization. The molecular motor was inspired by bacterial pathogens such as Rickettsia rickettsii that propel themselves through host cells by polymerizing protein “comet tails.” The synthetic mimic operates by polymerizing a double-helical DNA tail out of metastable DNA hairpins (a pattern named for its 180-degree turn).


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