Programmable DNA-based switches and nanomachines for sensing and drug delivery applications

在数百万年的时间里，生物体已经发展出了巧妙的“纳米机器”：在纳米（百万分之一毫米）尺度上表现出“绿色”技术的实体。这些纳米机器允许生物体产生和储存清洁能源，并创建分子系统来检测和保护它免受有毒物质，肿瘤，病毒和细菌的侵害。Vallée-Bélisle博士希望揭示这些纳米机器背后的秘密，为创造革命性的纳米技术打开大门，这些技术可能对全球健康和环境产生重大影响。 博士Vallée-Bélisle的研究计划旨在整合各个科学领域（化学，生物化学，电气和生物医学工程以及医学）的研究工作，以开发将对全球健康产生前所未有的影响的生物纳米技术。更具体地说，他的实验室将继续通过探索其各种激活/调节机制的热力学和动力学基础来表征天然纳米机器的机制（项目I）。这项工作的目的是通过“合成生物学”的方法来理解纳米机器，方法是使用DNA化学（一种高度“可编程”的聚合物）重新创建它们。这些基础研究为设计高效的人工纳米机器提供了基本规则。这项发现资助的其他具体目标包括设计各种各样的人工DNA开关和用于分子传感和医学诊断的纳米机器（PROJECT II）以及用于靶向药物递送（化疗或基因治疗）的可编程纳米机器（PROJECT III），这可以改善治疗，减少副作用。

Over the course of millions of years, living organisms have developed ingenious "nanomachines": entities that act like "green" technology on the scale of a nanometer (one-millionth of a millimetre). These nanoscopic machines allow an organism to produce and store clean energy, as well as create molecular systems that detect and protect it from toxic substances, tumors, viruses and bacteria. Dr. Vallée-Bélisle wants to reveal the secrets behind these nanomachines, opening the door to the creation of revolutionary nanotechnologies that could have a major impact on global health and the environment. Dr. Vallée-Bélisle's research program aims at integrating research efforts from various scientific fields (chemistry, biochemistry, electrical and biomedical engineering, and medicine) to develop bio-nanotechnologies that will have an unprecedented impact on global health. More specifically, his laboratory will continue to characterize the mechanisms of natural nanomachines by exploring the thermodynamic and kinetic basis of various of its activation/regulation mechanisms (PROJECT I). This work aims to understand nanomachines via a "synthetic biology" approach by recreating them using DNA chemistry, a highly "programmable" polymers. These fundamental studies provide the basic rules for the design of efficient artificial nanomachines. Other specific objectives of this discovery grant include the design of a wide variety of artificial DNA switches and nanomachines for molecular sensing and medical diagnosis (PROJECT II) as well as programmable nanomachines for targeted drug delivery (chemotherapy or gene therapy) (PROJECT III), which enable improved treatments with reduced side effects.