Harnessing biological motors to engineer systems for nanoscale transport and assembly
- 27 July 2008
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Nanotechnology
- Vol. 3 (8), 465-475
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2008.190
Abstract
Living systems use biological nanomotors to build life's essential molecules—such as DNA and proteins—as well as to transport cargo inside cells with both spatial and temporal precision. Each motor is highly specialized and carries out a distinct function within the cell. Some have even evolved sophisticated mechanisms to ensure quality control during nanomanufacturing processes, whether to correct errors in biosynthesis or to detect and permit the repair of damaged transport highways. In general, these nanomotors consume chemical energy in order to undergo a series of shape changes that let them interact sequentially with other molecules. Here we review some of the many tasks that biomotors perform and analyse their underlying design principles from an engineering perspective. We also discuss experiments and strategies to integrate biomotors into synthetic environments for applications such as sensing, transport and assembly.This publication has 100 references indexed in Scilit:
- A microrotary motor powered by bacteriaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Parallel Manipulation of Bifunctional DNA Molecules on Structured Surfaces Using Kinesin‐Driven MicrotubulesSmall, 2006
- Single-Molecule Analysis of Dynein Processivity and Stepping BehaviorCell, 2006
- Backsteps induced by nucleotide analogs suggest the front head of kinesin is gated by strainProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Direct observation of base-pair stepping by RNA polymeraseNature, 2005
- Cargo‐carrying motor vehicles on the neuronal highway: Transport pathways and neurodegenerative diseaseJournal of Neurobiology, 2003
- Mechanisms of Microtubule Guiding on Microfabricated Kinesin-Coated Surfaces: Chemical and Topographic Surface PatternsLangmuir, 2003
- Stretching and Transporting DNA Molecules Using Motor ProteinsNano Letters, 2003
- Surface Imaging by Self-Propelled Nanoscale ProbesNano Letters, 2001
- The Physics of Molecular MotorsAccounts of Chemical Research, 2001