Cells use protein-based mechanosensors to measure the physical properties of their surroundings. Synthetic tension sensors made of proteins, DNA, and other molecular building blocks have recently emerged as tools to visualize and perturb the mechanics of these mechanosensors. While almost all synthetic tension sensors are designed to exhibit orientation-independent force responses, recent work has shown that biological mechanosensors often function in a manner that is highly dependent on force orientation. Accordingly, the design of synthetic mechanosensors with orientation-dependent force responses can provide a means to study the role of orientation in mechanosensation. Furthermore, the process of designing anisotropic force responses may yield insight into the physical basis for orientation-dependence in biological mechanosensors. Here, we propose a DNA-based molecular tension sensor design wherein multivalency is used to create an orientation-dependent force response. We apply chemomechanical modeling to show that multivalency can be used to create synthetic mechanosensors with force response thresholds that vary by tens of pN with respect to force orientation.

细胞使用基于蛋白质的机械传感器来测量周围环境的物理特性。由蛋白质、DNA 和其他分子构建块制成的合成张力传感器最近已成为可视化和干扰这些机械传感器力学的工具。虽然几乎所有的合成张力传感器都设计为表现出与方向无关的力响应，但最近的工作表明，生物机械传感器通常以高度依赖于力方向的方式起作用。因此，具有方向相关力响应的合成机械传感器的设计可以提供一种方法来研究方向在机械感觉中的作用。此外，设计各向异性力响应的过程可能会深入了解生物机械传感器中方向依赖性的物理基础。这里，我们提出了一种基于 DNA 的分子张力传感器设计，其中多价用于创建依赖于方向的力响应。我们应用化学机械建模来表明多价可用于创建具有力响应阈值的合成机械传感器，其力响应阈值相对于力方向变化数十 pN。