Nanorobot Could One Day Transport Drugs to Specific Cells

An international team of researchers has designed a nanorobot that utilizes temperature changes to capture and release its tiny cargo.

The structure uses eight different DNA molecules that, when mixed together, spontaneously assemble to form a cage - earning it the moniker of "DNA nanocage."

Writing in the journal ACS Nano, the researchers outline the nanorobot's four main functional elements, each of which responds to temperature changes so as to either close the cage or pry it open.

The study was carried out by researchers from Aarhus and Duke universities, as well as the University of Rome. In it, the scientists were able to successfully trap an active and easily traceable enzyme named horseradish peroxidase (HRP).

"This is possible because the nanocage's outer lattice has apertures with a smaller diameter than the central spherical cavity," the news release outlining the discovery explains. "This structure makes it possible to encapsulate enzymes or other molecules that are larger than the apertures in the lattice, but smaller than the central cavity."

Meanwhile, the HRP retains its same enzyme activity inside the cage, converting substrate molecules small enough to make their way inside the nanorobot to products. Once the temperatures heat up again, the enzyme is released.

Finally, the researchers showed that the DNA nanocage and its load can both be taken up by cells in culture.

Based on these results, the authors believe the nanorobot marks a key step in the production of nanocages that can be used to deliver drugs targeting diseased cells. Doing so, they explain, could yield faster and more beneficial results.