We have shown that the diffusive mobility of single enzyme molecules increases in the presence of their respective substrates, in a concentration-dependent manner. By Galilean inverse, an enzyme that moves by generating a continuous surface force in a fluid should, when fixed in place, function as a micropump moving fluid and tracer particles in a directed manner. We show that by immobilizing enzymes on a patterned gold surface, ATP-independent enzyme-powered fluid pumps can be fabricated. We have devised enzyme-based pumps driven by urease, catalase, lipase, T4 DNA polymerase, and glucose oxidase in the presence of their respective substrates. The pumping velocity increases with increasing substrate concentration in the surrounding fluid. These pumps can be triggered by the presence of specific analytes, opening up the possibility of designing single-enzyme based smart devices that act both as a sensor and a pump.

Enzyme-powered pumps

244th National Meeting (2012)

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