Synthetic flagella spin and contract at the expense of chemical fuel

<h2>Summary</h2> New mechanisms that transduce chemical potential into work are needed to advance the field of nanotechnology, with the ATP-fueled archaeal flagellar rotational motor being the ultimate inspiration. We describe microns-long ribbons assembled from small peptides that catalyze the conversion of a nanometer-sized molecular fuel. This conversion drives a morphological transition of the flat nanoribbons into helical ones and eventually into tubes, which makes the ribbons spin. Remarkably, the spinning speed and directionality can be tuned by molecular design. Moreover, the nanoribbons exert pN forces on their surroundings, allowing them to push micron-sized objects or even crawl. Our work demonstrates a new mechanism by which chemical energy at the nanometer level is used to power micron-sized machinery. We envision such new mechanisms opening the door to micro- and nanoscale autonomous machines.

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Publication Details

Journal
Chem
Published
2024-09-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chempr.2024.08.016
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Micro and Nano Robotics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.93

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Synthetic flagella spin and contract at the expense of chemical fuel

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Synthetic flagella spin and contract at the expense of chemical fuel

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article en
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Abstract

<h2>Summary</h2> New mechanisms that transduce chemical potential into work are needed to advance the field of nanotechnology, with the ATP-fueled archaeal flagellar rotational motor being the ultimate inspiration. We describe microns-long ribbons assembled from small peptides that catalyze the conversion of a nanometer-sized molecular fuel. This conversion drives a morphological transition of the flat nanoribbons into helical ones and eventually into tubes, which makes the ribbons spin. Remarkably, the spinning speed and directionality can be tuned by molecular design. Moreover, the nanoribbons exert pN forces on their surroundings, allowing them to push micron-sized objects or even crawl. Our work demonstrates a new mechanism by which chemical energy at the nanometer level is used to power micron-sized machinery. We envision such new mechanisms opening the door to micro- and nanoscale autonomous machines.

ChemVol. 11(1)
University of Strathclyde (GB), Technical University of Munich (DE)
Verband der Chemischen Industrie, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Volkswagen Foundation, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, H2020 European Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 26%
Micro and Nano Robotics
0.93
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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