NANOCELL

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The overall goal of the NANOCELL consortium is to engineer biological components that can be assembled into artificial membrane-bound vesicles that have some of the functions of living cells. These NANOCELLS will be prototype biochemical factories for future applications in bio-nanotechnology. The membrane itself is the most important component. Another important component is F1FO (ATP-synthase). F1FO can be thought of as two rotary motors connected in opposition. Normally in nature the ion-driven FO generates more torque, and forces the ATP-driven F1 in reverse, thereby synthesizing ATP, the 'energy currency' of the cell. One goal of this part of the consortium (IP4) is to test and characterize the function of membranes containing F1FO in NANOCELLS, using fluorescence methods including single-NANOCELL fluorescence microscopy. F1FO and other membrane protein components will also be tested and characterized at the single-molecule level in droplet-on-hydrogel bilayers, which allow large planar membranes and membrane proteins that they contain to be observed with high-resolution optical microscopy. The final goal of IP4 is to use one or both of the F1FO rotary motors to drive a propeller that will allow NANOCELLS to move under their own power. The lab of IP4 is one of the world leaders in the study of the bacterial flagellar motor, which performs the same role in flagellated bacteria, and will use this expertise to guide the development of a swimming module for NANOCELLS.