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Updated: Oct 27, 2025

Production of Dynein and Kinesin Motor Ensembles on DNA Origami Nanostructures for Single Molecule Observation
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Active liquid crystals powered by force-sensing DNA-motor clusters.

Alexandra M Tayar1, Michael F Hagan2, Zvonimir Dogic3,2

  • 1Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|July 21, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed DNA-motor clusters to study active nematics powered by molecular motors. These programmable clusters reveal how motor dynamics and linker structure influence material properties and active stress generation.

Keywords:
DNA force sensoractive matterliquid crystalsmolecular motors

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Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Soft Matter Physics
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Active nematics are nonequilibrium materials driven by molecular motors.
  • Understanding their structure and mechanics is crucial for applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To design and investigate programmable DNA-motor clusters for active nematics.
  • To explore the relationship between motor dynamics, linker chemistry, and active stress generation.

Main Methods:

  • Fabrication of DNA-linker-kinesin motor clusters.
  • Fluorescence anisotropy measurements to assess nematic order.
  • Analysis of cluster dissociation under load to determine motor forces.

Main Results:

  • Motor clusters exhibit local nematic order, similar to microtubules.
  • DNA linker properties enable force-sensing capabilities.
  • Cluster dissociation indicates a critical load threshold, impacting system dynamics.

Conclusions:

  • DNA-motor clusters provide a tunable platform for studying active nematics.
  • This system elucidates the molecular mechanisms linking motor activity to macroscopic material behavior.
  • Programmable clusters offer insights into force generation and load-bearing in active matter.