Talk abstracts

Talk on Saturday 12:15-12:30pm submitted by Tony Manzo

Real-Time Super-Resolution Tracking of Single Deoxyribozyme Based Molecular Robots

Anthony J. Manzo, Alexander Johnson-Buck, Nils G. Walter (Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), Kyle Lund, Jeanette Nangreave, Hao Yan (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University), Nicole Michelotti (Department of Physics, University of Michigan), Steven K. Taylor, Renjun Pei, Milan N. Stojanovic (Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics in Department of Medicine, Columbia University), Nadine Dabby, Erik Winfree (Computation & Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology)

Abstract:
The probing and characterization of the behavior of individual nucleic acid based molecular robots is presented, using real-time single-particle tracking with super-resolution total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM). Nucleic acid based molecular assemblies, called “spiders”, implemented as robots with multiple deoxyribozyme sensor-actuator legs traverse and cleave pseudo-one- and two-dimensional landscapes of surface bound chimeric oligonucleotide substrates. We analyze the movement of spiders to determine the characteristics of their random and directional walks on various substrates and demonstrate their ability to respond to specific cues programmed onto the surface landscape. The experimental approach demonstrated here should allow for control over the cybernetic properties of spiders, resulting in the integration and synthesis of complex robotic behaviors at the nanoscale based on RNA and DNA nanotechnology.

Keywords: nucleic acid, computation, motors