DNA offers excellent programming properties to nanomaterials syntheses. Host-guest interaction between DNA nanostructures and inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) is of particular interest because the resulting complexes would possess both programming properties intrinsic to DNA and physical properties associated with inorganic NPs, such as plasmonic and magnetic features. Here, we report a class of core-shell complexes (AuNP@DNA cages): hard gold NPs (AuNPs) are encapsulated in geometrically well-defined soft DNA nanocages. The AuNP guest can be further controllably released from the host (DNA nanocages), pointing to potential applications in surface engineering of inorganic NPs and cargo delivery of DNA nanocages.

Programmed self-assembly of nucleic acids is a powerful approach for nano-constructions. The assembled nanostructures have been explored for various applications. However, nucleic acid assembly often requires chemical or in vitro enzymatical synthesis of DNA or RNA, which is not a cost-effective production method on a large scale. In addition, the difficulty of cellular delivery limits the in vivo applications. Herein we report a strategy that mimics protein production. Gene-encoded DNA duplexes are transcribed into single-stranded RNAs, which self-fold into well-defined RNA nanostructures in the same way as polypeptide chains fold into proteins. The resulting nanostructure contains only one component RNA molecule. This approach allows both in vitro and in vivo production of RNA nanostructures. In vivo synthesized RNA strands can fold into designed nanostructures inside cells. This work not only suggests a way to synthesize RNA nanostructures on a large scale and at a low cost but also facilitates the in vivo applications.

Here we report the assembly of multilayered DNA nanocages. The layers can be separated in response to a chemical cue, ATP. This is an effort to increase the structural complexity of DNA nanocages. The structures have been characterized by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, atomic force microscopy, and cryogenic electron microscopy. We envision that the layer-by-layer assembly strategy used in this study can be easily applied to other DNA nanocages to form Russian-doll-like semisolid structures, while the chemically activated layer separation makes a contribution to the development of "smart" DNA nanocages.

This communication reports a DNA tetrahedron whose self-assembly is triggered by an acidic environment. The key element is the formation/dissociation of a short, cytosine (C)-containing, DNA triplex. As the solution pH value oscillates between 5.0 and 8.0, the DNA triplex will form and dissociate that, in turn, leads to assembly or disassembly of the DNA tetrahedron, which has been demonstrated by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). We believe that such environment-responsive behavior will be important for potential applications of DNA nanocages such as on-demand drug release.

Solar steam generation has emerged as a promising and sustainable method of addressing the water shortage issue. The fabricated PPy–wood exhibits high solar energy conversion efficiency and excellent salt resistant performance.

All bound together: self-assembled symmetric DNA polyhedra were used to organize proteins in 3D space. Biotin moieties were incorporated into the self-assembled symmetric DNA polyhedra. Upon incubation with streptavidin (STV) protein, an STV protein became bound to each polyhedral face, thus resulting in well-structured DNA polyhedra/STV complexes. This strategy was also applied to different 3D DNA nanostructures and different proteins.

Quick folding of a long RNA strand using short DNA staple strands (at a 1 : 1 ratio) into various pre-designed nanostructures in high yields has been demonstrated.

Tile-based self-assembly is a powerful method in DNA nanotechnology and has produced a wide range of well-defined nanostructures. But the resulting structures are relatively simple. Increasing the structural complexity and the scope of the accessible structures is an outstanding challenge in molecular self-assembly. A strategy to partially address this problem by introducing flexibility into assembling DNA tiles and employing directing agents to control the self-assembly process is presented. To demonstrate this strategy, a range of DNA nanocages have been rationally designed and constructed. Many of them can not be assembled otherwise. All of the resulting structures have been thoroughly characterized by gel electrophoresis and cryogenic electron microscopy. This strategy greatly expands the scope of accessible DNA nanostructures and would facilitate technological applications such as nanoguest encapsulation, drug delivery, and nanoparticle organization.