Moving dynamics of a nanorobot with three DNA legs on nanopore-based tracks

Abstract

DNA nanorobots have garnered increasing attention in recent years due to their unique advantages of modularity and algorithm simplicity. To accomplish specific tasks in complex environments, various walking strategies are required for the DNA legs of the nanorobot. In this paper, we employ computational simulations to investigate a well-designed DNA-legged nanorobot moving along a nanopore-based track on a planar membrane. The nanorobot consists of a large nanoparticle as the robot core and three single-stranded DNAs (ssDNAs) as the robot legs. The nanopores linearly embedded in the membrane serve as the toeholds for the robot legs. A charge gradient along the pore distribution mainly powers the activation of the nanorobot. The nanorobot can move in two modes: a walking mode, where the robot legs sequentially enter the nanopores, and a jumping mode, where the robot legs may skip a nanopore to reach the next one. Moreover, we observe that the moving dynamics of the nanorobot on the nanopore-based tracks depends on pore–pore distance, pore charge gradient, external voltage, and leg length.