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Dawn SasekIB 535Summmer 2014Extra Credit: Energize Your Robot

THE SENTINEL: ATP-POWERED NANOBOT

Introducton:

My robot is designed to be a nanoscale sentinel robot that will be used to detectcancer cells and destroy them by either mechanical means or by releasing a chemicalcargo load. In my previous posts I described its structure, how the robot will sense thecancer cells by heat-detection or surface reception. I mentioned in the first post in week3 that I would power my robot by using ATP-driven motors. I wasnt sure if this was

feasible or if any research was being done; I just thought it would be cool since I spendso much time in AP biology referring to cells as machines and ATP synthase enzyme asa rotor/motor. The main problems with adding energizing systems to a nanorobot is thesize of the motor. A few extra atoms can have a huge impact on such a small system.

Here is a drawing of my nanobot The Sentinel, that is designed to navigate theaquatic world of the human bloodstream to detect cancer cells. The inspiration was twofold: the movement of bacteria and other flagellated cells within aquatic media and thespecificity of cell-to cell recognition via surface receptors.(I added heat sensors since

cancer cells are hotter than normal tissue; problems arose with this as normalinflammatory response also produce hot zones.)

The Concept:

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Notice the flagella-like tails at the end of the robot. They will work in a rotary motion,just like we discussed in the module 4 (inertia versus drag). The rotary motors aredesigned just as in the flagella assembly.(You Tube Video Link to Flagellar Motor)

Here is a video of a nanorobot using the artificial flagella motor:

These videos hopefully provide a nice visual of where I am going with this motorizednanobot. The problem with energizes the robot is size. Graphene models provide onepossible mechanism, but the motion of the robot relies on application of externalmagnetic fields. I saw an article in the Scientific American, written by a Biophysicist, onthe use of ATP to power robots. The scientists suggested the use of catalytic engines

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_52KxI4E_d8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdu8d3EUaYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdu8d3EUaYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_52KxI4E_d8

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that would allow nanoscale swimmers to harness fuel directly from their environment anallow the which would make them suited for the strange physics of the microscopicworld.(Mallouk, 2009)With a little more research I found a couple of excellent articles that suggested usinghybrid motors called bimolecular machines (Vogel, 2004). Biomolecular motors, asshown in the flagellar video above, are ideally suited to introduce chemically poweredmovement of selected components into devices engineered at the micro- and nanoscalelevel. Engineers can design hybrids that are part synthetic nanomaterial (graphene,silicates) attached to biological receptor sites of ATP-binding nucleotides and/or aminoacids. The design of such hybrid bio/nano-devices requires suitable syntheticcomponents that can form stable ligands or bonds with the organic components. (Ozin,2005).Below are a few diagrams I found from the Biophysics Journals with the biologicalversion compared with the engineered biophysical hybrid:

Figure 1:This diagram illustrates the structure of common biological motors:

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Image: Chem. Eur. J. 2004, 10, 2110 } 2116

I know us biology teachers spend so much time talking about ATP in biology. Here is agreat way to offer an application of how ATP can be used to run a tiny machine inside ofthe body. All of this biological motors work by binding ATP, followed by a conformationchange that results in one-directional motion, followed by more ATP-binding, causesanother conformational change, etc. If one were able to attache ATP binding sites usingthose amino acids, motion can be realized just as in the biological motors. SEEFIGURE 2:

Figure 2: Hybrid biological/synthetic motors

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Image: Chem. Eur. J. 2004, 10, 2110 } 2116

In the model shown in Figure 2 above, an interface is accomplished between thesynthetic nano-motor (Silicon post, which can also be replaced with carbon nanofibers)and the ATP-Binding domains associated with the enzyme, ATP-ase, which has aminoacid residues capable of binding ATP, which results in the swiveling of the motor head,just like in any biological motor.

Limitations:

The development of the hybrid ATP-binding motors is limited mainly by surfacechemistry. Getting the organic and inorganic domains to stick together is challenging,

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but recent developments are promising. The use of viruses has been suggested and isbeing done at MIT already. The viruses are being used to attach metals to organiccomplexes based on small electric differences that no man-made machine is capable ofconstructing. The machines also must be self-assembling because of we cannot putatoms together one-by-one; we rely on the self-assembly of basic components, just likethe heirarchy we have been discussing in class.One phrase that sums up the only obstacles to using biological nanomotorrs to powerrobots is provided here:

Overall, the potential of natures molecular machines has been recognized, and their

applications in synthetic nanoscale systems will be limited only by our creativity and

imagination. (Hess, 2004)

One final note: This video from the PBS Series: Extreme Technology discusses manyways of constructing nanorobots, include much information we have talked about inclass. If you need a cool, hour long video to show your students on nanotechnology,this might be fun to watch!!

LINK TO EXTREME TECHNOLOGY: NANO ROBOTS

Sources:Hess, Henry, George D. Bachand, and Viola Vogel. "Powering Nanodevices with Biomolecular Motors." Chemistry

- A European Journal10.9 (2004): 2110-116

Ozin, G. A., I. Manners, S. Fournier-Bidoz, and A. Arsenault. "Dream Nanomachines."Advanced Materials17.24

(2005): 3011-018

Qian, Hong. A Little Engine That Could:ATP-Powered Electrical Battery and Heater Inside Cells BiophysicalJournal Volume !" #cto$er %!% &!'(&!.

)allou*, T. E., +en, A. Powering anoro$ots Catalytic Engines t/at /arness 0uel 0rom t/e en1ironment.

Scientific AmericanVolume "!!, Issue 2, )ay %!!', Pages 3%-33

Zhong, Hong, and Nadrian C. Seeman. "RNA Used to Control a DNA Rotary Nanomachine."Nano Letters6.12

(2006): 2899-903.

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