Light-activated molecular machines get cells 'talking'
Mechanical control over vital cellular processes could revolutionize drug design

Date:
July 10, 2023
Source:
Rice University
Summary:
Scientists have used light-activated molecular machines to induce
cell- to-cell calcium signaling, revealing a powerful new strategy
for drug design. This technology could lead to improved treatments
for people with heart problems, digestive issues and more.


Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email

==========================================================================
FULL STORY ==========================================================================
One of the main ways cells "talk" to each other to coordinate essential biological activities such as muscle contraction, hormone release,
neuronal firing, digestion and immune activation is through calcium
signaling.

Rice University scientists have used light-activated molecular machines
to trigger intercellular calcium wave signals, revealing a powerful
new strategy for controlling cellular activity, according to a new study published in Nature Nanotechnology. This technology could lead to improved treatments for people with heart problems, digestive issues and more.

"Most of the drugs developed up to this point use chemical binding
forces to drive a specific signaling cascade in the body," said Jacob
Beckham, a chemistry graduate student and lead author on the study. "This
is the first demonstration that, instead of chemical force, you can
use mechanical force - - induced, in this case, by single-molecule
nanomachines -- to do the same thing, which opens up a whole new chapter
in drug design." Scientists used small-molecule-based actuators that
rotate when stimulated by visible light to induce a calcium-signaling
response in smooth muscle cells.

We lack conscious control over many of the critical muscles in our
body: The heart is an involuntary muscle, and there is smooth muscle
tissue lining our veins and arteries, controlling blood pressure and circulation; smooth muscle lines our lungs and intestines and is involved
in digestion and breathing. The ability to intervene in these processes
with a molecular-level mechanical stimulus could be game-changing.

"Beckham has shown that we can control, for example, cells' signaling
in a heart muscle, which is really interesting," said James Tour, Rice's
T. T. and W. F. Chao Professor of Chemistry and a professor of materials science and nanoengineering.

"If you stimulate just one cell in the heart, it will propagate the
signal to the neighboring cells, which means you could have targeted, adjustable molecular control over heart function and possibly alleviate arrhythmias," Tour said.

Activated by quarter-second-long light pulses, the molecular machines
allowed scientists to control calcium signaling in a cardiac myocyte
cell culture, causing the inactive cells to fire.

"The molecules essentially served as nano-defibrillators, getting these
heart muscle cells to start beating," Beckham said.

The ability to control cell-to-cell communication in muscle tissue could
be useful for the treatment of a wide range of diseases characterized
by calcium- signaling dysfunction.

"A lot of people who are paralyzed have huge digestive problems,"
Tour said.

"It would be a big deal if you could alleviate these issues by causing
those relevant muscles to fire without any kind of chemical intervention."
The molecule-sized devices activated the same calcium-based cellular
signaling mechanism in a live organism, causing whole-body contraction
in a fresh-water polyp, or Hydra vulgaris.

"This is the first example of taking a molecular machine and using it
to control an entire functioning organism," Tour said.

Cellular response varied based on the type and intensity of the mechanical stimulation: Fast, unidirectionally rotating molecular machines
elicited intercellular calcium wave signals, while slower speeds and multidirectional rotation did not.

Moreover, adjusting the intensity of the light allowed scientists to
control the strength of the cellular response.

"This is mechanical action at the molecular scale," Tour said. "These
molecules spin at 3 million rotations per second, and because we can
adjust the duration and intensity of the light stimulus, we have precise spatiotemporal control over this very prevalent cellular mechanism."
The Tour lab has shown in previous research that light-activated molecular machines can be deployed against antibiotic-resistant infectious bacteria, cancer cells and pathogenic fungi.

"This work expands the capabilities of these molecular machines in a
different direction," Beckham said. "What I love about our lab is that
we are fearless when it comes to being creative and pursuing projects in ambitious new directions." "We're currently working towards developing machines activated by light with a better depth of penetration to really actualize the potential of this research.

We are also looking to get a better understanding of molecular-scale
actuation of biological processes." The research was supported by the Discovery Institute, the Robert A. Welch Foundation (C-2017-20190330),
the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory (Cooperative Agreement W911NF-18-2-0234)
and the European Union's Horizon 2020 (Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant
agreement 843116).

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Matter_&_Energy
# Biochemistry # Nanotechnology # Optics # Chemistry
o Computers_&_Math
# Neural_Interfaces # Spintronics_Research #
Artificial_Intelligence # Mobile_Computing
* RELATED_TERMS
o Calcium o Protein o User_interface_design o Solar_cell o
Engineering o Technology o Nanorobotics o Mobile_phone

==========================================================================

Print

Email

Share ========================================================================== ****** 1 ****** ***** 2 ***** **** 3 ****
*** 4 *** ** 5 ** Breaking this hour ==========================================================================
* Six_Foods_to_Boost_Cardiovascular_Health
* Cystic_Fibrosis:_Lasting_Improvement *
Artificial_Cells_Demonstrate_That_'Life_...

* Advice_to_Limit_High-Fat_Dairy_Foods_Challenged
* First_Snapshots_of_Fermion_Pairs *
Why_No_Kangaroos_in_Bali;_No_Tigers_in_Australia
* New_Route_for_Treating_Cancer:_Chromosomes *
Giant_Stone_Artefacts_Found:_Prehistoric_Tools
* Astonishing_Secrets_of_Tunicate_Origins *
Most_Distant_Active_Supermassive_Black_Hole

Trending Topics this week ========================================================================== SPACE_&_TIME Jupiter Mars NASA MATTER_&_ENERGY Materials_Science
Construction Engineering_and_Construction COMPUTERS_&_MATH Artificial_Intelligence Educational_Technology Neural_Interfaces


==========================================================================

Strange & Offbeat ========================================================================== SPACE_&_TIME Quasar_'Clocks'_Show_Universe_Was_Five_Times_Slower_Soon_After_the_Big_Bang First_'Ghost_Particle'_Image_of_Milky_Way Gullies_on_Mars_Could_Have_Been_Formed_by_Recent_Periods_of_Liquid_Meltwater, Study_Suggests MATTER_&_ENERGY Bees_Make_Decisions_Better_and_Faster_Than_We_Do,_for_the_Things_That_Matter_to Them These_Lollipops_Could_'Sweeten'_Diagnostic_Testing_for_Kids_and_Adults_Alike Holograms_for_Life:_Improving_IVF_Success COMPUTERS_&_MATH Number_Cruncher_Calculates_Whether_Whales_Are_Acting_Weirdly AI_Tests_Into_Top_1%_for_Original_Creative_Thinking Researchers_Create_Highly_Conductive_Metallic_Gel_for_3D_Printing Story
Source: Materials provided by Rice_University. Original written by Silvia Cernea Clark.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jacob L. Beckham, Alexis R. van Venrooy, Soonyoung Kim, Gang
Li, Bowen
Li, Guillaume Duret, Dallin Arnold, Xuan Zhao, John T. Li, Ana
L. Santos, Gautam Chaudhry, Dongdong Liu, Jacob T. Robinson,
James M. Tour.

Molecular machines stimulate intercellular calcium waves and
cause muscle contraction. Nature Nanotechnology, 2023; DOI:
10.1038/s41565-023-01436-w ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230710133056.htm

--- up 1 year, 19 weeks, 10 hours, 50 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)