Fig. 1.

Components and synthesis of an active DNA gel. (A) Schematic of gel synthesis and activation, in which base-pair-programmed self-assembly is used first to create two types of rigid DNA nanotubes decorated with sticky ends then to cross-link the tubes with long linker DNAs. The gel is activated by addition of the motor protein construct FtsK50C. (B) Confocal fluorescent image of a DNA gel. The gel contains two types of nanotubes containing, respectively, red and green dyes. (C) Sketch and data demonstrating the contractile activity of FtsK50C on a single, stretched DNA strand; data shown are adapted from ref. 17.