Last year in groundbreaking work, researchers at the University of Southern Denmark and Kent University reported the creation of an artificial molecule with “superpowers” that they say has the potential to revolutionize nanotechnology, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Now, in a recently published review article, the team is reflecting on the special artificial hybrid molecule, it’s potential ability to create artificial life forms, the emerging research field behind the creation, and their overall goals for the molecule.
Left-handed and right-handed
Today, researchers and the medical industry routinely create artificial DNA structures for many purposes. However, Hanbin Mao and Chenguang Lou’s supermolecule is different. They have successfully designed three-stranded DNA structures with three-stranded peptide structures, thus creating an artificial hybrid molecule that combines the strengths of both. The duo describes it as the perfect marriage between DNA and peptides.
But that walk down the aisle is easier said than done. In nature, it is rare that DNA and peptide structures are chemically linked, as the new structure is. One reason for this is their chirality. DNA is always right-handed, while peptides are always left-handed, so trying to combine them is challenging.
In their work, Mao and Lou changed the peptide chirality from left to right, so it fits with the chirality of the DNA and works with it instead of repelling it.
“This is the first study to show that the chirality of DNA and peptide structures can communicate and interact, when their handedness is changed,” said Lou.
Supermolecule applications
Mao and Lou want to use these super molecules to create viral vaccines and artificial life forms that can be used for diagnosing and treating diseases. They envision using the artificial life forms as nanorobots or nanomachines that can enter a patient’s body to directly deliver medication or other diagnostic elements.
“An artificial viral vaccine may be about 10 years away. An artificial cell, on the other hand, is on the horizon because it consists of many elements that need to be controlled before we can start building with them,” said Lou. “But with the knowledge we have, there is, in principle, no hindrance to produce artificial cellular organisms in the future.”
The field behind the super molecule is called "hybrid peptide-DNA nanostructures"—and it is an emerging one, less than 10 years old. In addition to Mao and Lou, others have made progress in the field, as well.
At Oxford University, for example, scientists have succeeded in building a nanomachine made of DNA and peptides that can drill through a cell membrane, creating an artificial membrane channel through which small molecules can pass.
At Arizona State University, Nicholas Stephanopoulos and colleagues have enabled DNA and peptides to self-assemble into 2D and 3D structures.
At Northwest University, researchers have shown that microfibers can form in conjunction with DNA and peptides self-assembling. DNA and peptides operate at the nano level, so when considering the size differences, microfibers are huge.
At Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, scientists have used hybrid molecules to create an onion-like spherical structure containing cancer medication, which holds promise to be used in the body to target cancerous tumors.
“In my view, the overall value of all these efforts is that they can be used to improve society's ability to diagnose and treat sick people,” said Lou. “Looking forward, I will not be surprised that one day we can arbitrarily create hybrid nanomachines, viral vaccines and even artificial life forms from these building blocks to help the society to combat those difficult-to-cure diseases. It would be a revolution in healthcare.”