![]() “For example, we were able to detect, in real time and for the first time, the function of the enzyme alkaline phosphatase with a variety of biological molecules and drugs,” said Harroun. “By carefully tuning the nanoantenna design, we have created five nanometer-long antenna that produces a distinct signal when the protein is performing its biological function.”įluorescent nanoantennas open many exciting avenues in biochemistry and nanotechnology, the scientists believe. “One can easily attach a fluorescent molecule to the DNA, and then attach this fluorescent nanoantenna to a biological nanomachine, such as an enzyme. “The DNA-based nanoantennas can be synthesized with different lengths and flexibilities to optimize their function,” he said. One of the main advantages of using DNA to engineer these nanoantennas is that DNA chemistry is relatively simple and programmable,” said Scott Harroun, an UdeM doctoral student in chemistry and the study’s first author. One of the main innovations of these nanoantennae is that the receiver part of the antenna is also employed to sense the molecular surface of the protein studied via molecular interaction. “Like a two-way radio that can both receive and transmit radio waves, the fluorescent nanoantenna receives light in one color, or wavelength, and depending on the protein movement it senses, then transmits light back in another color, which we can detect.” ![]() “Inspired by the ‘Lego-like’ properties of DNA, with building blocks that are typically 20,000 times smaller than a human hair, we have created a DNA-based fluorescent nanoantenna, that can help characterize the function of proteins.” he said “In recent years, chemists have realized that DNA can also be employed to build a variety of nanostructures and nanomachines”, added the researcher, who also holds the Canada Research Chair in Bioengineering and Bionanotechnology. Over 40 years ago, researchers invented the first DNA synthesizer to create molecules that encode genetic information. An antenna that works like a two-way radio “The results are so exciting that we are currently working on setting up a start-up company to commercialize and make this nanoantenna available to most researchers and the pharmaceutical industry,” said UdeM chemistry professor Alexis Vallée-Bélisle, the study’s senior author. ![]() Reported last week in Nature Methods, the device is a new method to monitor the structural change of proteins over time – and may go a long way to helping scientists better understand natural and human-designed nanotechnologies. Researchers at Université de Montréal have created a nanoantenna to monitor the motions of proteins. One of the main innovations of these nanoantennas is that the receiver part of the antenna (bright green) is also employed to sense the molecular surface of the protein studied via molecular interaction. Like a two-way radio that can both receive and transmit radio waves, the fluorescent nanoantenna designed by Alexis Vallée-Bélisle and his team receives light in one color and depending on the protein movement it senses, then transmits light back in another color, which we can detect. ![]()
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