Chemistry is ideally placed to replicate biomolecular structures with tuneable building materials. Of particular interest are molecular nanopores, which transport cargo across membranes, as in DNA sequencing. Advanced nanopores control transport in response to triggers, but this cannot be easily replicated with biogenic proteins. Here we use DNA nanotechnology to build a synthetic molecular gate that opens in response to a specific protein. The gate self‐assembles from six DNA strands to form a bilayer‐spanning pore, and a lid strand comprising a protein‐binding DNA aptamer to block the channel entrance. Addition of the trigger protein, thrombin, selectively opens the gate and enables a 330‐fold increase inw the transport rate of small‐molecule cargo. The molecular gate incorporates in delivery vesicles to controllably release enclosed cytotoxic drugs and kill eukaryotic cells. The generically designed gate may be applied in biomedicine, biosensing or for building synthetic cells.

中文翻译：

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用于细胞毒性药物蛋白质控制转运的仿生 DNA 膜门

化学非常适合用可调节的建筑材料复制生物分子结构。特别令人感兴趣的是分子纳米孔，它跨膜运输货物，如 DNA 测序。先进的纳米孔响应触发来控制运输，但这不能用生物蛋白轻易复制。在这里，我们使用 DNA 纳米技术构建了一个合成分子门，该门可响应特定蛋白质而打开。门由 6 条 DNA 链自组装形成一个双层孔，以及一条包含蛋白质结合 DNA 适配体的盖链，以阻止通道入口。添加触发蛋白凝血酶，选择性地打开大门，使小分子货物的运输速度增加 330 倍。分子门结合在递送囊泡中以可控地释放封闭的细胞毒性药物并杀死真核细胞。通用设计的门可应用于生物医学、生物传感或构建合成细胞。