Machines found in nature and human-made machines share common components, such as an engine, and an output element, such as a rotor, linked by a clutch. This clutch, as seen in biological structures such as dynein, myosin or bacterial flagellar motors, allows for temporary disengagement of the moving parts from the running engine. However, such sophistication is still challenging to achieve in artificial nanomachines. Here we present a spherical rotary nanomotor with a reversible clutch system based on precise molecular recognition of built-in DNA strands. The clutch couples and decouples the engine from the machine’s rotor in response to encoded inputs such as DNA or RNA. The nanomotor comprises a porous nanocage as a spherical rotor to confine the magnetic engine particle within the nanospace (∼0.004 μm³) of the cage. Thus, the entropically driven irreversible disintegration of the magnetic engine and the spherical rotor during the disengagement process is eliminated, and an exchange of microenvironmental inputs is possible through the nanopores. Our motor is only 200 nm in size and the clutch-mediated force transmission powered by an embedded ferromagnetic nanocrystal is high enough (∼15.5 pN at 50 mT) for the in vitro mechanical activation of Notch and integrin receptors, demonstrating its potential as nano-bio machinery.

自然界中的机器和人造机器共享共同的部件，例如发动机和输出元件，例如通过离合器连接的转子。这种离合器，如动力蛋白、肌球蛋白或细菌鞭毛马达等生物结构中所见，允许运动部件暂时脱离正在运行的发动机。然而，在人造纳米机器中实现如此复杂的程度仍然具有挑战性。在这里，我们展示了一种球形旋转纳米电机，带有基于内置 DNA 链的精确分子识别的可逆离合器系统。离合器响应 DNA 或 RNA 等编码输入，将发动机与机器转子耦合或分离。纳米电机包含一个多孔纳米笼作为球形转子，将磁性发动机粒子限制在笼的纳米空间（~ 0.004 μm ³）内。因此，消除了分离过程中磁引擎和球形转子的熵驱动的不可逆分解，并且可以通过纳米孔交换微环境输入。我们的电机尺寸仅为 200 nm，由嵌入的铁磁纳米晶体驱动的离合器介导的力传输足够高（ 50 mT 时约15.5 pN），可用于 Notch 和整合素受体的体外机械激活，这证明了其作为纳米技术的潜力。生物机械。