title: DNA structural changes as the basis for a nanomolecular device.
abstract: There is currently great interest in the design of nanodevices that are capable of performing movements. Protein molecular machines are abundant in biology but it has recently been proposed that nucleic acids could also act as nanomolecular machines in model systems. Several types of movements have been described with DNA machines: rotation, extension-contraction and "scissor-like" opening and closing. Here we analyze the properties of a simple and robust device composed of a single 21-base-long oligonucleotide which relies on a duplex/quadruplex equilibrium fueled by the sequential addition of DNA single-strands, generating a DNA duplex as a by-product. The interconversion between two well-defined topological states induces a five nanometer two-stroke, linear motor type movement, which is detected by FRET spectroscopy.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biophysique, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle USM 0503, INSERM Unité 565, CNRS UMR 5153, 43 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alberti
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Mergny
mesh_terms: D039301:Computers, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009691:Nucleic Acid Denaturation; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D009711:Nucleotides; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D004247:DNA