德国慕尼黑工业大学Hendrik Dietz、Friedrich C. Simmel和英国牛津大学Ramin Golestanian研究组合作开发DNA折纸旋转棘轮马达。2022年7月20日，国际知名学术期刊《自然》发表了这一成果。

在没有能量供应的平衡中，如果不违反热力学定律，就无法维持定向运动。在远离热力学平衡的条件下，定向运动可以在布朗棘轮的框架内实现，这是一种破坏了反演对称性的扩散机制。棘轮作用被认为是许多天然生物马达功能的基础，例如 F1F0-ATPase，并且已经在合成微型系统中进行了实验证明以及在通过有机化学合成创造的人工分子马达中。

DNA 纳米技术已经产生了多种纳米级机制，包括枢轴、铰链、曲柄滑块和旋转系统，它们可以采用不同的配置，例如，由链置换反应触发或通过改变环境参数等如 pH 值、离子强度、温度、外部场，并将它们的运动与天然运动蛋白的运动耦合。这项先前的工作考虑到低雷诺数动力学和固有的随机性，导致他们开发了一种由 DNA 折纸制成的纳米级旋转电机，该电机由棘轮驱动，其机械能力接近于 F1F0-ATPase 等生物电机。

据悉，为了赋予分子机制的运动方向性，必须克服在如此小规模和环境温度下的液体溶液中普遍存在的随机热力。

附：英文原文

Title: A DNA origami rotary ratchet motor

Author: Pumm, Anna-Katharina, Engelen, Wouter, Kopperger, Enzo, Isensee, Jonas, Vogt, Matthias, Kozina, Viktorija, Kube, Massimo, Honemann, Maximilian N., Bertosin, Eva, Langecker, Martin, Golestanian, Ramin, Simmel, Friedrich C., Dietz, Hendrik

Issue&Volume: 2022-07-20

Abstract: To impart directionality to the motions of a molecular mechanism, one must overcome the random thermal forces that are ubiquitous on such small scales and in liquid solution at ambient temperature. In equilibrium without energy supply, directional motion cannot be sustained without violating the laws of thermodynamics. Under conditions away from thermodynamic equilibrium, directional motion may be achieved within the framework of Brownian ratchets, which are diffusive mechanisms that have broken inversion symmetry1,2,3,4,5. Ratcheting is thought to underpin the function of many natural biological motors, such as the F1F0-ATPase6,7,8, and it has been demonstrated experimentally in synthetic microscale systems (for example, to our knowledge, first in ref.3) and also in artificial molecular motors created by organic chemical synthesis9,10,11,12. DNA nanotechnology13 has yielded a variety of nanoscale mechanisms, including pivots, hinges, crank sliders and rotary systems14,15,16,17, which can adopt different configurations, for example, triggered by strand-displacement reactions18,19 or by changing environmental parameters such as pH, ionic strength, temperature, external fields and by coupling their motions to those of natural motor proteins20,21,22,23,24,25,26. This previous work and considering low-Reynolds-number dynamics and inherent stochasticity27,28 led us to develop a nanoscale rotary motor built from DNA origami that is driven by ratcheting and whose mechanical capabilities approach those of biological motors such as F1F0-ATPase.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04910-y

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04910-y