A team of scientists from the National Institutes of Health and the University of Montpellier developed
Dysfunction of cellular mechanosensitivityof a person is associated with many diseases - for example, cancer: pathological cells migrate inside the body by probing and constantly adapting to the mechanical properties of their microenvironment. Such an adaptation is only possible because certain forces are detected by mechanoreceptors that transmit information to the cell's cytoskeleton.
Scientists' knowledge of these molecular molecules is nowthe mechanisms involved in cellular mechanosensitivity are still very limited. Several technologies that are used today are actually very limited.
Now the research team will useDNA origami method to create an alternative solution. It allows you to independently assemble 3D nanostructures in a predetermined shape, using the DNA molecule as a building material. Over the past ten years, this method has made significant progress in the field of nanotechnology.
The new robot consists of three DNA origami structures.It is nanometer-sized, so it is compatible with the size of a human cell. This allows for the first time to apply and control force with a resolution of 1 piconewton, namely one trillionth of a Newton - with 1 Newton corresponding to the force of a finger pressing on a handle. This is the first time that a man-made self-assembling DNA-based object can apply force with such precision.
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