Université de Montréa professor leads study on nanomachines: 'These nanomachines control all molecular activities in our body'

A research team led by Université de Montréal chemistry professor Alexis Vallée-Bélisle recently found that breaking molecular nanomachines, which are essential components of life, can lead to the creation of new and improved ones. According to a university report, the study published in Nature Chemistry explores the concept of using destruction to create novel functionalities like nanomachines.

"These nanomachines control all molecular activities in our body, and problems with their regulation or structure are at the origin of most human diseases," said the study's principal investigator, Alexis Vallée-Bélisle, a chemistry professor at Université de Montréal.

The team studied the nanomachines built with multiple components that self-assemble exhibited enhanced capabilities when fragmented and reassembled. These findings offer insight into the design of the advanced nanomachines, as well as shed light on the evolutionary processes of natural molecular nanomachines.

The Canadian researchers were inspired by a famous quote by Picasso: "Every act of creation is first an act of destruction." The finding could revolutionize the field of nanotechnology. They are made up of proteins or nucleic acids, and the intricate nanomachines contain thousands of atoms that are incredibly small, measuring less than 10,000 times the size of a human hair. Their regulation and structure play a vital role in maintaining the molecular activities within our bodies, and disruptions can lead to human diseases.

Vallée-Bélisle is the Canadian Research Chair in Biongineering and Bio-Nanotechnology, and he noted a distinction of the construction of nanomachines. Some are built with a single component or part while others use multiple components that spontaneously assemble. He and his team, which included doctoral student Dominic Lauzon, delved into the question of whether it is more advantageous to create nanomachines using self-assembling molecular components or a single component. Lauzon then reportedly had a "destructive idea" to break up existing nanomachines and look into reassembling them. DNA has a programmable and easy-to-read chemistry, and served as the ideal molecule for this. Years of experimental validations followed, during where a team discovered that nanomachines could withstand fragmentation. 

The concentration of each individual component was controlled, and researchers found that the nanomachines could exhibit different sensitivity levels for component concentration, temperature and mutations. Cutting a nanomachine into three parts shows that they activated more sensitively at high component concentrations. Also at low components, conversely nanomachines could be programmed to activate or deactivate at specific moments in time, or inhibit their functions altogether.

"These novel functionalities were created by simply cutting up, or destroying, the structure of an existing nanomachine," explained Lauzon.  "These functionalities could drastically improve human-based nanotechnologies such as sensors, drug carriers, and even molecular computers."

Conventional machines are assembled using physical connections like screws, bolts, or glue, but instead nanomachines rely on weak dynamic intermolecular forces that allow for spontaneous reformation. This unique characteristic enables broken nanomachines to reassemble, opening up possibilities for nanotechnology researchers to design the next generation of nanomachines. 

Recent discoveries by biologists indicate that around 20% of biological nanomachines may have evolved through gene fragmentation. 

Vallée-Bélisle explained, "With our results, biologists now have a rational basis for understanding how the fragmentation of these ancestral proteins could have created new molecular functionalities for life on Earth."

Researchers continue to explore nanotechnology, and this study's insights into destruction and reassembly pave the way for innovative advancements in a number of field that range from medicine to computing. Scientists now look into harnessing the power of breaking nanomachines.