DNA-origami. Graphics by Björn Högberg
DNA is often thought of as software for life’s hardware, but it is still a molecule with unique physical characteristics. These qualities have been coming to light for practical applications in life science research thanks to DNA origami, a way of folding DNA molecules into different shapes. In a first, a team of Swedish researchers studying the EphA2 receptor, a protein involved in a number of cancers, used DNA origami as primary tool of their research.
The team was looking at how the distance between proteins that interact with the EphA2 receptor affected the communicating receptor of the nearby cells. In order to deliver these proteins at precise distance from each other to the receptor, DNA origami was used as both a vise and a super precise measuring stick. The DNA molecules that were used were made into straight rigid rods onto which the proteins could be deposited at regular intervals. The DNA origami rods kept the proteins in place and the researchers knew their precise locations and distance from one another. The team did discover a relationship between these distances and the EphA2 receptor activation in breast cancer cells, but the greater story is that DNA origami is becoming a powerful tool for microbiology research that clearly has a great deal of untapped potential.
Study in Nature Methods: Spatial control of membrane receptor function using ligand nanocalipers…
More: DNA origami nano-tool provides important clue to cancer…
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