People like you and me are capable of functioning the way we do due to the presence of all the proteins inside our bodies. These special chemicals are present and ubiquitous within our innards and are responsible for essential bodily functions.
However, these chemicals also “morph” and change shape as they go about their regular tasks. These shapes and forms are so complex, given the complicated nature of proteins themselves, that an entire branch of biochemistry is dedicated to studying it: the concept of protein dynamics.
Naturally, fully observing proteins while they go about in their complex tasks is a feat in and of itself. Scientists then need a better way of observing these proteins while in the act—a need that researchers from Université de Montréal (UdeM) are ready to address.
To give experts a better inside look into the true nature of proteins, UdeM scientists created fluorescent “nanoantennas” made from DNA, making these the “smallest” antennas ever made, according to ScienceAlert. Their study was published in the journal Nature Methods.
“Like a two-way radio that can both receive and transmit radio waves, the fluorescent nanoantenna receives light in one color, or wavelength, and depending on the protein movement it senses, then transmits light back in another color, which we can detect,” said UdeM chemist Alexis Vallée-Bélisle, who headed the project.
In sending these specific protein movement-based signals, the nanoantennas allow Vallée-Bélisle and the team to detect and measure changes in a target protein’s shape and form. To them, this beats earlier technology with similar functions in that their novel methods allow experts to observe ‘short-lived” protein states, which appear at far too short a time period for standard methods to observe with greater detail.
“[Many] labs around the world […] could readily employ these nanoantennas to study their favorite protein, such as to identify new drugs or to develop new nanotechnologies.”
Université de Montréal chemist Alexis Vallée-Bélisle, in the potential applications of their novel DNA “nanoantennas”
As an example, UdeM chemist Scott Harroun details how they managed to detect the function of the enzyme alkaline phosphatase in real-time “with a variety of biological molecules and drugs.” According to Harroun, the enzyme is implicated in several diseases of concern, including some cancers.
The team further details in their paper: “Nanoantennas can be used to monitor distinct biomolecular mechanisms in real-time, including small and large conformational changes – in principle, any event that can affect the dye’s fluorescence emission.”
Finally, Vallée-Bélisle is optimistic after the promising results delivered by their study, which can be adapted to laboratories that possess instruments called spectrofluorometers, or instruments that detect and quantify fluorescent molecules. “[Many] labs around the world […] could readily employ these nanoantennas to study their favorite protein, such as to identify new drugs or to develop new nanotechnologies.”
(For more biotechnology news, check out how scientists created “bioinks” using modified bacteria. In related fields, read further on how a rare aging syndrome may be caused by rogue “quadruple helix” DNA.)
References
- Harroun, S. G., Lauzon, D., Ebert, M. C. C. J. C., Desrosiers, A., Wang, X., & Vallée-Bélisle, A. (2022). Monitoring protein conformational changes using fluorescent nanoantennas. Nature Methods, 19(1), 71–80. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-021-01355-5
- Nield, D. (2022, January 12). Scientists built the world’s tiniest antenna, and it’s made out of dna. ScienceAlert. https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-made-the-tiniest-antenna-ever-using-dna
