Pioneering study by Canadian scientists at Université de Montréal has
successfully reproduced and mathematically confirmed two molecular languages
at the genesis of life.
The research "Programming chemical communication: allostery vs. multivalent
mechanism," which was published on August 15, 2023 in the Journal of the
American Chemical Society, provides up new avenues for the advancement of
nanotechnologies with uses in biosensing, drug delivery, and molecular
imaging.
The billions of nanomachines and nanostructures that make up living things
communicate with one another to form higher-order entities that are capable
of performing numerous critical tasks, including moving, thinking,
surviving, and procreating.
According to Alexis Vallée-Bélisle, a professor of bioengineering at the
University of Minnesota, "the development of molecular languages, also known
as signaling mechanisms, which ensure that all molecules in living organisms
are working together to achieve specific tasks, is the key to life's
emergence."
According to Vallée-Bélisle, who holds a Canada Research Chair in
Bioengineering and Bionanotechnology, billions of molecules in yeasts, for
instance, communicate and coordinate their actions to begin union when they
detect and bind a mating pheromone.
As we go into the age of nanotechnology, he continued, "many scientists
believe that the key to designing and programming more sophisticated and
practical artificial nanosystems depends on our capacity to understand and
better utilize molecular languages developed by living organisms."
two different language groups
Allostery is one well-known molecular dialect. A molecule connects to
another molecule and changes its structure, causing it to be directed to
either activate or inhibit an action. This is the "lock-and-key" mechanism
of this language.
Multivalency, commonly referred to as the chelate effect, is a different,
less well-known molecular language. It functions like a puzzle: when
molecules attach to one another, the binding of a third molecule is either
made easier or harder by simply expanding the binding interface of the first
molecule.
Although these two languages are present in all molecular systems of all
living things, scientists have only lately begun to grasp their fundamental
principles. As a result, they may now be used to construct and program
cutting-edge artificial nanotechnologies.
Given the complexity of natural nanosystems, Vallée-Bélisle said that no
one has ever been able to compare the fundamental principles, benefits, or
drawbacks of these two languages on the same system.
In order to do this, Dominic Lauzon, his PhD student and the study's lead
author, came up with the concept of building a DNA-based molecular system
that could communicate using both languages. For nanoengineers, DNA is
similar to Lego blocks, according to Lauzon. It's a fantastic molecule that
offers straightforward, programmable chemistry that is simple to
employ.
simple mathematical formulas for antibody detection
The researchers deciphered the parameters and design criteria to program
the communication between molecules within a nanosystem and discovered that
straightforward mathematical equations could effectively explain both
languages.
For instance, while the comparable allosteric translation only allowed
control of the response's sensitivity, the multivalent language allowed
control of both the sensitivity and cooperativity of the molecules'
activation or deactivation.
With this new knowledge at their disposal, the researchers designed and
engineered a programmable antibody sensor that enables the detection of
antibodies over a variety of concentrations using the language of
multivalency.
According to Vallée-Bélisle, "as demonstrated by the recent pandemic, our
ability to precisely monitor the concentration of antibodies in the general
population is a powerful tool to assess the people's individual and
collective immunity."
The scientist's research illuminates why certain natural nanosystems may
have chosen one language over another to exchange chemical information in
addition to broadening the synthetic toolkit to produce the next generation
of nanotechnology.
