Emergent Dynamic Instability in Micrometer-scale Synthetic Active-matter Polymers
- 1Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology
Abstract
In cells, cytoskeletal filaments such as microtubules are dissipative polymers that switch stochastically between growth and rapid collapse, a behaviour known as dynamic instability. This switching is coupled to nucleotide hydrolysis, so a filament's fate depends on the chemical state of its subunits and the free-monomer pool. Previously reported synthetic assemblies can be cycled between assembled and disassembled states, but the switch is typically set by the global fuel level rather than by a state stored within each monomer. Here we demonstrate a DNA/RNA hybrid polymer in which every monomer holds a one-bit internal state, assembly-competent or inactivated, flipped irreversibly by cleavage of an internal RNA linkage. The bit is written by two routes sharing the same transesterification chemistry: a slow spontaneous cleavage giving each monomer an intrinsic lifetime, and a fast, site-specific write by a programmable DNAzyme. Because inactivation is irreversible, sustained cycling requires continuous regeneration of active monomer, holding the system in a non-equilibrium steady state in which filaments undergo repeated depolymerization and rescue at frequencies near 0.2 (min)-1. We also find that the filaments form meshes auto-catalytically. Because each crosslink recruits filaments from the pool, crosslinking accelerates autocatalytically, driving a percolation transition to a system-spanning network that continuously remodels as its filaments turn over. Thus the timing of switching can be stored within individual monomers rather than imposed as a global threshold -providing a route to autonomously remodelling active materials.
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BibTeX
@misc{biniuri2026emergent,
title = {{Emergent Dynamic Instability in Micrometer-scale Synthetic Active-matter Polymers}},
author = {Y. Biniuri and M. Bespalova and P. I. H. Bastiaens},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.64898/2026.07.06.736608},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.06.736608v2},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Emergent Dynamic Instability in Micrometer-scale Synthetic Active-matter Polymers
AU - Y. Biniuri
AU - M. Bespalova
AU - P. I. H. Bastiaens
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/06
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.07.06.736608
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.06.736608v2
AB - In cells, cytoskeletal filaments such as microtubules are dissipative polymers that switch stochastically between growth and rapid collapse, a behaviour known as dynamic instability. This switching is coupled to nucleotide hydrolysis, so a filament's fate depends on the chemical state of its subunits and the free-monomer pool. Previously reported synthetic assemblies can be cycled between assembled and disassembled states, but the switch is typically set by the global fuel level rather than by a state stored within each monomer. Here we demonstrate a DNA/RNA hybrid polymer in which every monomer holds a one-bit internal state, assembly-competent or inactivated, flipped irreversibly by cleavage of an internal RNA linkage. The bit is written by two routes sharing the same transesterification chemistry: a slow spontaneous cleavage giving each monomer an intrinsic lifetime, and a fast, site-specific write by a programmable DNAzyme. Because inactivation is irreversible, sustained cycling requires continuous regeneration of active monomer, holding the system in a non-equilibrium steady state in which filaments undergo repeated depolymerization and rescue at frequencies near 0.2 (min)-1. We also find that the filaments form meshes auto-catalytically. Because each crosslink recruits filaments from the pool, crosslinking accelerates autocatalytically, driving a percolation transition to a system-spanning network that continuously remodels as its filaments turn over. Thus the timing of switching can be stored within individual monomers rather than imposed as a global threshold -providing a route to autonomously remodelling active materials.
ER -