# A Nanomechanical Toolkit to Guide Membrane Structure and Dynamics

> **NIH NIH R01** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $335,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Cell membranes compartmentalize and modulate biochemical reactions and facilitate biomolecule transport by
forming diverse and dynamic structures. For a variety of applications ranging from basic biological study of
membrane trafficking to biomedical applications such as drug delivery, it is desirable to control membrane
structure and dynamics precisely using in vitro methods. This has been difficult in the past due to the lack of
versatile, high-precision tools to manufacture and manipulate membranes. Inspired by the protein machineries
that scaffold and sculpt membranes, we propose to build DNA nanostructures with well-defined shape and
motion as nanoscale mechanical tools for membrane engineering. The idea is to guide the formation and
deformation of lipid bilayers using dynamic DNA nanostructures equipped with membrane-interacting
molecules, hence transducing the programmable features of the DNA structures to the scaffolded membranes.
This proposal builds on our recently demonstrated DNA-nanotechnology enabled membrane engineering
methods, and focuses on building an arsenal of precise and versatile tools by designing DNA structures with
sophisticated self-assembly and reconfiguration mechanisms. We will also incorporate membrane-remodeling
protein complexes into DNA nanoscaffolds and modulate the proteins' collective behaviors. The newly
developed toolkit will be tested for their ability to generate desired membrane curvatures of various geometry
and dimensions in spatially and temporally controlled manner. We expect the project to (1) establish an
adaptable platform for the quantitative study of membrane biophysics, (2) deliver prototype devices for sorting
proteins by their membrane-curvature recognition capability, and (3) engender a unique interface between
DNA nanotechnology and cell biology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10136636
- **Project number:** 5R01GM132114-03
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Chenxiang Lin
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $335,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10136636

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10136636, A Nanomechanical Toolkit to Guide Membrane Structure and Dynamics (5R01GM132114-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10136636. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*