Reconfigurability of deformable DNA origami nanoparticles on biomembranes

生物膜对于活细胞是必不可少的，并且它们也作为组织纳米颗粒用于生物学和软材料中的应用的有价值的界面。颗粒粘附到膜上可以引起颗粒之间的紧急相互作用，使它们在膜上组织并改变其形状。以前的研究主要集中在具有刚性形状的纳米颗粒上。最近的进展使得能够创建由DNA制成的可变形纳米颗粒，这些纳米颗粒具有精确可控的形状和机械性能。虽然在一些领域中已知颗粒柔性在有组织结构的组装中的重要性，但在纳米颗粒-膜相互作用的背景下尚未对其进行探索。本计画是一项关于可变形及可重构奈米粒子在生物膜上吸附及组织的定量研究。它将为合理设计具有比刚性颗粒更复杂和可调行为的纳米颗粒奠定基础。该项目将建立一种技术的基本理解和实用设计原则，该技术将开辟新的途径来探测和驱动膜的特性，并促进纳米颗粒在流体表面上的组装和动态重构。研究活动将与外展工作相结合，以扩大研究参与，提高科学知识，并提高大学的准备。该奖项将调查变形DNA折纸纳米粒子与脂质膜的相互作用，并建立一个机制之间的联系，粒子的灵活性，膜变形性，以及由此产生的配置和自组装的粒子。具体目标包括：（1）定量表征可变形纳米颗粒在膜上的吸附;（2）评估吸附纳米颗粒的膜介导的变形;（3）对较高密度纳米颗粒群体的涌现行为进行分类;以及（4）研究膜相关纳米颗粒的刺激触发重构性。这项研究将利用互补的计算和实验方法，提供任何一种方法都无法单独获得的洞察力。其基本原理是揭示生物膜和可变形的脂质锚定DNA折纸纳米结构的耦合行为的新认识，从而使纳米结构的预测设计能够以可控的方式响应，组装和调节生物膜。该提案将对研究生和本科生研究人员进行交叉培训，鼓励转学前的社区大学生从事研究，招募代表性不足的群体为研究项目做出贡献，并通过双手来教育正在成长的高中生-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

Biomembranes are essential to living cells, and they also serve as a valuable interface for organizing nanoparticles for applications in biology and soft materials. Adhesion of particles onto a membrane can give rise to emergent interactions between particles that cause them to organize on the membrane and transform its shape. Previous research has focused predominantly on nanoparticles with rigid shapes. Recent advances enable the creation of deformable nanoparticles, made from DNA, that have precisely controllable shapes and mechanical properties. While the importance of particle flexibility in the assembly of organized structures is known in some fields, it has not been explored in the context of nanoparticle-membrane interactions. This project is a quantitative study of the adsorption and organization of deformable and reconfigurable nanoparticles on biomembranes. It will lay the groundwork for the rational design of nanoparticles with more complex and tunable behaviors than is possible with rigid particles. This project will establish fundamental understanding and practical design principles for a technology that will open new avenues to probe and actuate properties of membranes and to facilitate the assembly and dynamic reconfigurability of nanoparticles on fluid surfaces. Research activities will be integrated with outreach efforts to broaden research participation, enhance scientific knowledge, and increase college preparedness.This award will investigate interactions of deformable DNA origami nanoparticles with lipid membranes and establish a mechanistic link between particle flexibility, membrane deformability, and the resulting configurations and self-assembly of the particles. Specific objectives include (1) quantitatively characterizing adsorption of deformable nanoparticles onto membranes; (2) assessing membrane-mediated deformations of adsorbed nanoparticles; (3) classifying emergent behaviors of populations of nanoparticles at higher densities; and (4) studying stimuli-triggered reconfigurability of membrane-associated nanoparticles. The study will leverage complementary computational and experimental methods to provide insight inaccessible to either approach on its own. The rationale is to reveal new understanding of the coupled behaviors of biomembranes and deformable, lipid-anchored DNA origami nanostructures, thus enabling predictive design of nanostructures that respond to, assemble on, and modulate biomembranes in controllable manners. The proposal will cross-train graduate and undergraduate researchers, encourage pre-transfer community college students to engage in research, recruit underrepresented groups to contribute to the research project, and educate rising high school seniors through hands-on projects and research mentorship.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.