Molecular Machines in Cells: Natural, Semi-artificial, and Bioinspired Designs

Dear Colleagues,

The 2016 Nobel Prize was awarded for the design and production of molecular machines. This rapidly developing and broad field includes naturally occurring biological machines and the multitude of their fully artificial and semi-artificial analogs.

The focus of this Special Issue of Cells is on the three major groups of molecular machines which use biological mechanisms.

Natural Molecular Machines. Billions of biological molecular machines operate in every living cell. These macromolecular complexes perform critical tasks, such as protein folding, DNA replication, transcription, and transportation of various cargos. Intercellular communication machinery is represented by extracellular vesicles. These metabolic nano-machines transfer nucleic acids and active enzymes between cells. The best studied examples of natural biological machines include ribosomes, plasma membrane pumps, mitotic spindles, and motor proteins: myosin, kinesin, and dynein.

Bio-Inspired Molecular Machines are artificial molecular constructs that apply the mechanisms found in natural molecular machines. These are synthetic artificial machines which adopt the basic principles of biological machines, unique for the micro and nanoscale. Their examples include self-assembling 3D nanostructures and logic gates using the DNA molecule as construction material.

Semi-Artificial Molecular Machines. Due to the complexity of natural biological machines, it is often difficult to decipher their detailed mechanics. To resolve this, a semi-artificial machine design approach was introduced. It produces molecular cyborgs, combining the naturally occurring biomachines with artificial components, which direct their performance toward a new function. These hybrid designs are exemplified by the nanoblinker—the topoisomerase-driven FRET oscillator for DNA damage detection.

This Special Issue is dedicated to natural molecular machines and their artificial and hybrid analogs which employ mechanisms borrowed from nature. We invite contributions about their mechanisms, designs, and applications. Research on the unique biophysical and chemical properties of the normal DNA molecule, which can enable its usage as a building block of molecular machines, is also welcome. Reviews as well as original papers are invited.

Dr. Vladimir V. Didenko
Guest Editor

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