[HN Gopher] Engineering tunable catch bonds with DNA
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       Engineering tunable catch bonds with DNA
        
       Author : PaulHoule
       Score  : 15 points
       Date   : 2024-12-12 12:41 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nature.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nature.com)
        
       | bglazer wrote:
       | Clever bit of molecular design! It's a DNA hook that folds and
       | binds to itself. It also has a site for binding to a partner. If
       | you pull gently on the partner it just unzips from the hook and
       | easily detaches. But, if you pull harder the _hook_ unzips
       | instead. Then the partner has to _shear_ instead of unzipping.
       | That's much harder.
       | 
       | So that's the "catch bond". It comes undone if you pull gently,
       | but the bond gets much tougher if you pull harder. Its a bit like
       | those finger trap toys.
       | 
       | Also, many cells use this kind of catch bond for detecting and
       | responding to biomechanical forces.
        
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       (page generated 2024-12-14 23:02 UTC)