Biological motors are highly complex protein assemblies that generate linear or rotary motion, powered by chemical energy. Synthetic motors based on DNA nanostructures, bio-hybrid designs or synthetic organic chemistry have been assembled. However, unidirectionally rotating biomimetic wheel motors with rotor–stator units that consume chemical energy are elusive. Here, we report a bio-hybrid nanoengine consisting of a catalytic stator that unidirectionally rotates an interlocked DNA wheel, powered by NTP hydrolysis. The engine consists of an engineered T7 RNA polymerase (T7RNAP-ZIF) attached to a dsDNA nanoring that is catenated to a rigid rotating dsDNA wheel. The wheel motor produces long, repetitive RNA transcripts that remain attached to the engine and are used to guide its movement along predefined ssDNA tracks arranged on a DNA nanotube. The simplicity of the design renders this walking nanoengine adaptable to other biological nanoarchitectures, facilitating the construction of complex bio-hybrid structures that achieve NTP-driven locomotion.

生物马达是高度复杂的蛋白质组件，通过化学能产生线性或旋转运动。已经组装了基于DNA纳米结构，生物杂交设计或合成有机化学的合成马达。然而，具有消耗化学能的转子-定子单元的单向旋转仿生轮式电动机是可望而不可及的。在这里，我们报告了一种生物混合纳米引擎，它由一个催化定子组成，该催化定子单向旋转一个互锁的DNA轮，由NTP水解提供动力。该引擎由工程化的T7 RNA聚合酶（T7RNAP-ZIF）组成，该酶附着在dsDNA纳米环上，而dsDNA纳米环连接到刚性旋转的dsDNA轮。轮式电机产生长而重复的RNA转录本，这些转录本保持附着在引擎上，并用于引导其沿着排列在DNA纳米管上的预定ssDNA轨道移动。