Synthetic DNA-based swimmers driven by enzyme catalysis

Padial, Tania Patiño, Grosso, Erica Del, Gentile, Serena, Pellejero, Lorena Baranda, Mestre, Rafael, Paffen, Lars J.M.M., Sánchez, Samuel and Ricci, Francesco (2024) Synthetic DNA-based swimmers driven by enzyme catalysis. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 146 (18), 12664–12671. (doi:10.1021/jacs.4c02094).

Abstract

Here, we report DNA-based synthetic nanostructures decorated with enzymes (hereafter referred to as DNA-enzyme swimmers) that self-propel by converting the enzymatic substrate to the product in solution. The DNA-enzyme swimmers are obtained from tubular DNA structures that self-assemble spontaneously by the hybridization of DNA tiles. We functionalize these DNA structures with two different enzymes, urease and catalase, and show that they exhibit concentration-dependent movement and enhanced diffusion upon addition of the enzymatic substrate (i.e., urea and H ₂O ₂). To demonstrate the programmability of such DNA-based swimmers, we also engineer DNA strands that displace the enzyme from the DNA scaffold, thus acting as molecular “brakes” on the DNA swimmers. These results serve as a first proof of principle for the development of synthetic DNA-based enzyme-powered swimmers that can self-propel in fluids.

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Contributors

Author: Rafael Mestre

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