(691e) Bioinspired Mechanochemical Nanosystems

There have been significant efforts in recent years in developing novel nanosystems for bioinspired molecular engineering. We have designed single-wall carbon nanotubes with molecular recognition domain by functionalizing them with nucleic acids. With molecular recognition and self-assembly capabilities of oligonucleotides, we have created nanomechanical systems that convert chemical energy into mechanical motion. We have characterized our nanomechanical systems by using single nanotube fluorescence spectroscopy. Our spectroscopic system is a powerful and unique optical platform that allows one to probe and analyze biomolecular reactions both in ensemble and at single molecule level. The kinetic information of biomolecular reactions was extracted by utilizing the signal transduction from the optical nanomaterials. A simple kinetic model was developed to quantitatively understand the single turnover reaction. The analysis and simulations were performed within the framework of single-molecule kinetics to predict the overall rate of the single turnover reaction. The experimental and theoretical investigation results will be presented.