Many scientists and health professionals have long dreamed of creating nanoscale computers that can be used in precision health care. Researchers at Penn State have developed a nanocomputing system that controls the protein’s function in cell movement and metastasis. This research opens the door to creating nanoscale computers that can be used to treat and prevent other cancers.
Nikolay Dokholyan is the G. Thomas Passananti Professor at Penn State College of Medicine. He and his colleagues, including Yashavantha Vishiwaiah, a postdoctoral scholar of pharmacology at Penn State, created a transistor-like logic gate’. This is a type of computation in which multiple inputs control one output.
Our logic gate is only the beginning of what one could call cell computing,” he stated. “But it is a significant milestone because it demonstrates that it can embed conditional operations into a protein and control its function. It will help us better understand humans biology and diseases and open up possibilities for precision therapeutics development.
The logic gate of the team consisted of two sensor domains that could respond to light and the drug rapamycin. Because it involves cell adhesion, movement, and the initial steps of the development of metastatic cancer, the team focused on the protein focal adhesion kinase (FAK).
Vishweshwaraiah stated, “first, we introduced a rapamycin-sensitive domain, uniRapr, which the lab had previously created and studied, into a gene that encodes FAK.” “Next, we introduced LOV2, a domain that is sensitive to light. After optimizing both parts, the final logic-gate design was created.
The modified gene was inserted into HeLa cancer cell lines, and confocal microscopy was used to observe the cells in vitro. The team examined the effect of each input on the cell’s behavior.
They found that they could activate FAK quickly using light and rapamycin. Additionally, the cells underwent internal changes that increased their ability to adhere, eventually decreasing their motility.
The results of their research were published in Nature Communications today (16 November 2021).
Vishweshwaraiah stated, “We have demonstrated for the first time that we can build a functioning nanocomputing system within living cells that can control cell behavior.” “We also found some interesting features in the FAK protein. These include the changes it triggers within cells when activated.” Dokholyan stated that the team plans to test the nanocomputing agents in vivo in living organisms.