DNA molecules, which are 20,000 times smaller compared to a human hair. Everything operates on a far tiny scale than the human eye can perceive. This antenna’s receiver component senses the molecular surface of the protein under investigation. When a protein does its biological function, it generates a unique signal.
Chemist Alexis Vallée-Bélisle, the study’s principal author, demonstrated how the nanoantenna operates using a two-way radio analogy. It is capable of transmitting and receiving signals using a certain wavelength (or color) of light. The antenna initially receives light in one color. Then, based on the activity identified in the protein, it returns light in a different color. According to the researchers, this project is important as fluorescent nanoantennas open up a plethora of new opportunities in biology and nanotechnology.
Scott Harroun is a chemistry PhD student at the University of Montreal and one of the authors of the project. He highlighted how they managed to track a specific enzyme’s reaction to a variety of drugs. The enzyme referred to as alkaline phosphatase is associated with a variety of diseases, including cancer and intestinal inflammation. Observing it respond to various compounds and medications in real time might aid scientists in discovering and developing novel drugs.
Vallée-Bélisle’s statement detailed the uses of nanoantennas. It said, “Perhaps what we are most excited by is the realization that many labs around the world, equipped with a conventional spectrofluorometer, could readily employ these nanoantennas to study their favorite protein, such as to identify new drugs or to develop new nanotechnologies”.
This is not the first time scientists have utilized DNA to construct a nanostructure. It is gaining popularity as a component for small technologies, such as data storage, due to its stability and relative ease of programming. According to Vallée-Bélisle, “In recent years, chemists have realized that DNA can also be employed to build a variety of nanostructures and nanomachines”. Vallée-Bélisle stated that the team intends to start a business to market the nanoantenna and make it available to other pharmaceutical researchers.
