Scientists at Penn State report they have produced a nanocomputing agent that can control the function of a specific protein involved in cell movement and cancer metastasis. They say their research paves the way for building complex nanoscale computers to prevent and treat cancer and other diseases.
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The team, which included Nikolay Dokholyan, G. Thomas, PhD, Passananti Professor, Penn State College of Medicine, and colleagues, including Yashavantha Vishweshwaraiah, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar, created a transistor-like “logic gate,” which is a type of computational function in which multiple inputs control one output. They published study (“Two-input protein logic gate for computation in living cells”) in Nature Communications.
The team's logic gate included two sensor domains designed to respond to two inputs – light and the drug rapamycin. The team targeted focal adhesion protein kinase (FAK) because it is involved in cell adhesion and movement, which are early steps in the development of metastatic cancer.
The team introduced the modified gene into HeLa cancer cells and, using confocal microscopy, observed the cells in vitro. They studied the effects of each of the inputs individually, as well as the combined effects of the inputs, on the behavior of the cells.
They discovered that not only could they rapidly activate FAK using light and rapamycin, but also that this activation resulted in the cells undergoing internal changes that enhanced their adhesion abilities, which reduced their motility.
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"We show for the first time that we can create a functional nanocomputer agent inside living cells that can control cell behavior," Vishweshwaraiah continued. "We also discovered some interesting features of the FAK protein, such as the changes it causes in cells when activated.".
Dokholyan noted that the team hopes to eventually evaluate these nanocomputing agents in vivo within living organisms.
Source of information: genengnews.com
