Not just a smiley face: Using DNA origami to solve problems in molecular biology

DNA分子的形状，一个长长的线状双螺旋结构，是现代科学的标志性形象之一。DNA之所以有这样的形状，是因为构成其结构的化学物质，而这些化学物质又提供了有机体的遗传密码。DNA结构的一个特点是，最近的研究表明，有可能将双螺旋结构一分为二，产生的长长的单链DNA可以折叠成不同的形状，产生微小的结构。这种技术被称为“DNA折纸”。我们想用生物技术制作DNA折纸结构，并设计成这样一种方式，我们可以用它们来研究两个问题，这些问题已经被证明是用其他实验方法解决的。我们将使用非常高分辨率的原子力显微镜来观察这些结构(它们非常小--其中7.25亿个可以放在直径1.5毫米的针头上)。第一个项目是研究调节细胞行为的蛋白质如何在DNA本身找到特定的点，它们通常识别这些点来开启和关闭细胞功能。他们是如何做到这一点是令人费解的，因为蛋白质非常小，DNA非常长。第二个问题涉及细胞内不同分子如何相互“对话”，以便产生信号来控制细胞的行为。因此，我们将通过将信号分子家族的所有成员连接到不同图案的DNA折纸瓷砖来解决这个问题，以显示一个成员与另一个成员的接近程度如何可能产生影响。

The shape of the DNA molecule, a long, string-like double-helical structure is one of the iconic images of modern science. The reason that DNA has this shape is due to the chemicals that make up its structure and which in turn provide an organism's genetic code. A feature of the structure of DNA is that it has recently been shown that it is possible to split the double-helix into two, and long lengths of the resulting 'single-stranded' DNA can be folded into different shapes, producing tiny structures. This technique is called 'DNA origami'. We want to use biotechnology make DNA origami structures, and design them in such a way that we can use them to study two problems that have proved intractable using other experimental methods. We will use a very high resolution 'atomic force microscope' to look at the structures (they are very small - 725 million of them would fit on a 1.5 mm diameter pin-head). The first project is to look at the way that proteins that regulate cells' behaviour find specific points on DNA itself, which they normally identify to turn cell functions on and off. How they do this is puzzling because the proteins are very small and the DNA is very long. The second question concerns how different molecules 'talk' to each other inside a cell in order to produce signals to control of a cell's behaviour. So, we will address this by attaching all of the members of the signalling molecule family to DNA origami tiles in different patterns to show how the proximity of one member to that of another may be influential.