Nanovault controls enzymes
Researchers from Aarhus University have now succeeded in building a nanovault of DNA strings that can control enzymes. The nanovault functions as a safe in which an enzyme can be stored away and where only a specific set of keys can shut down the enzyme again. Aarhus University has also become the headquarters of a European PhD school that will develop the next generation of nanovaults for use in biotechnology and medicine.
In the research paper recently published in Nature Communications, Guido Grossi et al. describe the design, construction and characterization of a DNA origami nanodevice - named "DNA Vault" - that can enclose an enzyme and regulate its catalytic activity.
When the structure is closed, the encapsulated enzyme is hindered from interacting with substrate molecules in solution. However, when a specific DNA signal is detected, the vault opens, allowing the enzyme to recognize its substrate, and thus triggering the catalytic reaction.
The DNA Vault introduces a general approach to control enzyme-substrate interactions by inducing conformational changes in a rationally designed nanodevice, and it may be used in the future to develop advanced applications in nano-medicine, biotechnology and synthetic biology.
To read the whole article (doi:10.1038/s41467-017-01072-8) go to Nature Communications.
You can also read about the research performed in the Andersen Lab for Biomolecular Nanodesign at andersen-lab.dk.
For further information, please contact
Associate professor Ebbe Sloth Andersen
iNANO/Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University
esa@inano.au.dk - +45 4117 8619
PhD student Guido Grossi
ggrossi@inano.au.dk - 8715 6747
Professor Kurt Vesterager Gothelf
iNANO/Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University
kvg@chem.au.dk - +45 6020 2725