posted on 2021-11-22, 23:29authored byMengxi Zheng, Zhe Li, Longfei Liu, Mo Li, Victoria E. Paluzzi, Jong Hyun Choi, Chengde Mao
DNA origami is a powerful method
for constructing DNA nanostructures.
It requires long single-stranded DNAs. The preparation of such long
DNA strands is often quite tedious and has a limited production yield.
In contrast, duplex DNAs can be easily prepared via enzymatic reactions
in large quantities. Thus, we ask a question: can we design DNA nanostructures
in such a way that the two complementary strands can simultaneously
fold into the designed structures in the same solution instead of
hybridizing with each other to form a DNA duplex? By engineering DNA
interaction kinetics, herein we are able to provide multiple examples
to concretely demonstrate a positive answer to this question. The
resulting DNA nanostructures have been thoroughly characterized by
electrophoresis and atomic force microscopy imaging. The reported
strategy is compatible with the DNA cloning method and thus would
provide a convenient method for the large-scale production of the
designed DNA nanostructures.