Engineering ssRNA tile filaments for (dis)assembly and membrane binding

Cytoskeletal protein filaments such as actin and microtubules confer mechanical support to cells and facilitate many cellular functions such as motility and division. Recent years have witnessed the development of a variety of molecular scaffolds that mimic such filaments. Indeed, filaments that are programmable and compatible with biological...

Dynamin A as a one-component division machinery for synthetic cells

Membrane abscission, the final cut of the last connection between emerging daughter cells, is an indispensable event in the last stage of cell division and in other cellular processes such as endocytosis, virus release or bacterial sporulation. However, its mechanism remains poorly understood, impeding its application as a cell-division...

The archaeal division protein CdvB1 assembles into polymers that are depolymerized by CdvC

The Cdv proteins constitute the cell division system of the Crenarchaea, a machinery closely related to the ESCRT system of eukaryotes. Using a combination of TEM imaging and biochemical assays, we here present an in vitro study of Metallosphaera sedula CdvB1, the Cdv protein that is believed to play a major role in the constricting ring that...

Optimized cDICE for Efficient Reconstitution of Biological Systems in Giant Unilamellar Vesicles

Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) are often used to mimic biological membranes in reconstitution experiments. They are also widely used in research on synthetic cells, as they provide a mechanically responsive reaction compartment that allows for controlled exchange of reactants with the environment. However, while many methods exist to...

Towards a synthetic cell cycle

Recent developments in synthetic biology may bring the bottom-up generation of a synthetic cell within reach. A key feature of a living synthetic cell is a functional cell cycle, in which DNA replication and segregation as well as cell growth and division are well integrated. Here, we describe different approaches to recreate these processes...

Reconstitution of Ultrawide DNA Origami Pores in Liposomes for Transmembrane Transport of Macromolecules

Molecular traffic across lipid membranes is a vital process in cell biology that involves specialized biological pores with a great variety of pore diameters, from fractions of a nanometer to >30 nm. Creating artificial membrane pores covering similar size and complexity will aid the understanding of transmembrane molecular transport in...

Electronic transport spectroscopy of carbon nanotubes in a magnetic field

Single-electron tunneling in InP nanowires

We report on the fabrication and electrical characterization of field-effect devices based on wire-shaped InP crystals grown from Au catalyst particles by a vapor–liquid–solid process. Our InP wires are n-type doped with diameters in the 40–55-nm range and lengths of several micrometers. After being deposited on an oxidized Si substrate, wires...

Few-electron quantum dot circuit with integrated charge read out

Electron transport through double quantum dots

Electromagnetic Aharonov-Bohm effect in a two-dimensional electron gas ring

Fabrication and low-temperature transport properties of selectively grown dual-gated single-electron transistors

We report on the fabrication of a dual-gated single-electron transistor (SET) based on a quantum dot (QD) formed by selective area growth of metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy, and its low-temperature transport properties. We observe clear Coulomb oscillations in a SET fabricated in combination with direct growth of nanostructures and...

Two-stage kondo effect in a quantum dot at a high magnetic field

Electron cotunneling in a semiconductor quantum dot