Accelerated Degradation of Active Nanosystems by Biomolecular Motors

生物分子马达加速活性纳米系统的降解

• 批准号: 0926790
• 负责人: Henry Hess
• 金额: $ 33万
• 依托单位: Columbia University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0926790&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Accelerated; Degradation; Active; Nanosystems; Biomolecular

The research objective of this award is to develop an understanding of the degradation pathways of active nanosystems. At the macroscale, a car engine will rust when inactive, but wear out when running. Similarly, active nanosystems which incorporate mechanical motion degrade faster when activated. This project will utilize molecular shuttles, nanoscale transport systems powered by the motor protein kinesin, as a model system. Microfabricated guiding structures will be used to exert defined, cyclic loads on the moving shuttles, and optical microscopy will be employed to observe the breaking of the central part of the shuttle. Investigating degradation within these active nanostructures explores new ground, since the molecular shuttle system is too large to be readily described in atomic-level terms of force-activated dissociation of single bonds, but too small to apply macroscopic concepts of wear and fatigue. Thus a mesoscale view of these systems on the nanoscale is required and will be developed through a combination of experiment,simulation, and theory. The result of this research will be an improved understanding of wear and fatigue at the nanoscale. This understanding is on one hand critical for the design of durable devices which can function for their intended lifetime without failure. On the other hand, degradation products may be released from the system, similar to the ?brake dust? created from brake pads in a car. To assess the potential environmental and toxicological impact of active nanosystems it is therefore important to understand how the nanosystem evolves over its lifetime and ultimately fails. While this research is only a first step towards understanding these complex processes, it will ? if successful ? create a template for the evaluation of other active nanosystems and provide a basic scientific framework to understand these degradation processes.

该奖项的研究目标是发展对活性纳米系统降解途径的理解。从宏观上看，汽车发动机在不活动时会生锈，但在运行时就会磨损。同样，包含机械运动的活性纳米系统在被激活时降解得更快。这个项目将利用分子穿梭，纳米级运输系统由马达蛋白驱动，作为一个模型系统。微制造的导向结构将对移动的航天飞机施加确定的循环载荷，光学显微镜将观察航天飞机中心部分的断裂。研究这些活性纳米结构中的降解是一个新的领域，因为分子穿梭系统太大，无法用单键力激活解离的原子水平来描述，但又太小，无法应用磨损和疲劳的宏观概念。因此，需要在纳米尺度上对这些系统进行中尺度观察，并将通过实验、模拟和理论的结合来发展。这项研究的结果将是在纳米尺度上提高对磨损和疲劳的理解。这种理解一方面对于设计能够在其预期寿命内正常工作的耐用设备至关重要。另一方面，降解产物可能从系统中释放出来，类似于？刹车灰尘?由汽车刹车片制成。因此，为了评估活性纳米系统的潜在环境和毒理学影响，了解纳米系统如何在其生命周期内进化并最终失效是很重要的。虽然这项研究只是了解这些复杂过程的第一步，但它会吗？如果成功了？创建一个评估其他活性纳米系统的模板，并提供一个基本的科学框架来理解这些降解过程。