Abstract
DNA nanomachines are assemblies that rely on molecular inputs that are processed or transduced into measurable outputs. Though DNA nanotechnology has created a gamut of molecular devices, an outstanding challenge has been the demonstration of functionality and relevance of these devices in living systems. The I-switch is a DNA nanodevice that, in response to protons, changes its conformation to produce a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) signal. We show that this rationally designed molecular device is capable of measuring spatiotemporal pH changes associated with endosomes as they undergo maturation in living cells in culture. Furthermore, we show that the nanomachine retains its autonomous functionality as it maps the same biological process in cells of a living organism like C. elegans. This demonstration of the quantitative functionality of an artificially designed scaffold positions DNA nanodevices as powerful tools to interrogate biological phenomena.
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Surana, S., Modi, S., Krishnan, Y. (2011). An Autonomous DNA Nanodevice Captures pH Maps of Living Cells in Culture and in Vivo . In: Cardelli, L., Shih, W. (eds) DNA Computing and Molecular Programming. DNA 2011. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6937. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23638-9_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23638-9_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-23637-2
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