We created nanometer-scale transmembrane channels in lipid bilayers using self-assembled DNA-based nanostructures. Scaffolded DNA origami was used to create a stem that penetrates and spans a lipid membrane, and a barrel-shaped cap that adheres to the membrane in part via 26 cholesterol moieties. In single-channel electrophysiological measurements, we find similarities to the response of natural ion channels, such as conductances on the order of 1 nS and channel gating. More pronounced gating was seen for mutations in which a single DNA strand of the stem protruded into the channel. In single-molecule translocation experiments, we highlight one of many potential applications of the synthetic channels, namely as single DNA molecule sensing devices.

The use of dynamic, self-assembled DNA nanostructures in the context of nanorobotics requires fast and reliable actuation mechanisms. We therefore created a 55-nanometer-by-55-nanometer DNA-based molecular platform with an integrated robotic arm of length 25 nanometers, which can be extended to more than 400 nanometers and actuated with externally applied electrical fields. Precise, computer-controlled switching of the arm between arbitrary positions on the platform can be achieved within milliseconds, as demonstrated with single-pair Förster resonance energy transfer experiments and fluorescence microscopy. The arm can be used for electrically driven transport of molecules or nanoparticles over tens of nanometers, which is useful for the control of photonic and plasmonic processes. Application of piconewton forces by the robot arm is demonstrated in force-induced DNA duplex melting experiments.

Biological membranes fulfill many important tasks within living organisms. In addition to separating cellular volumes, membranes confine the space available to membrane-associated proteins to two dimensions (2D), which greatly increases their probability to interact with each other and assemble into multiprotein complexes. We here employed two DNA origami structures functionalized with cholesterol moieties as membrane anchors—a three-layered rectangular block and a Y-shaped DNA structure—to mimic membrane-assisted assembly into hierarchical superstructures on supported lipid bilayers and small unilamellar vesicles. As designed, the DNA constructs adhered to the lipid bilayers mediated by the cholesterol anchors and diffused freely in 2D with diffusion coefficients depending on their size and number of cholesterol modifications. Different sets of multimerization oligonucleotides added to bilayer-bound origami block structures induced the growth of either linear polymers or two-dimensional lattices on the membrane. Y-shaped DNA origami structures associated into triskelion homotrimers and further assembled into weakly ordered arrays of hexagons and pentagons, which resembled the geometry of clathrin-coated pits. Our results demonstrate the potential to realize artificial self-assembling systems that mimic the hierarchical formation of polyhedral lattices on cytoplasmic membranes.

CONSPECTUS: DNA has been previously shown to be useful as a material for the fabrication of static nanoscale objects, and also for the realization of dynamic molecular devices and machines. In many cases, nucleic acid assemblies directly mimic biological structures, for example, cytoskeletal filaments, enzyme scaffolds, or molecular motors, and many of the applications envisioned for such structures involve the study or imitation of biological processes, and even the interaction with living cells and organisms. An essential feature of biological systems is their elaborate structural organization and compartmentalization, and this most often involves membranous structures that are formed by dynamic assemblies of lipid molecules. Imitation of or interaction with biological systems using the tools of DNA nanotechnology thus ultimately and necessarily also involves interactions with lipid membrane structures, and thus the creation of DNA-lipid hybrid assemblies. Due to their differing chemical nature, however, highly charged nucleic acids and amphiphilic lipids do not seem the best match for the construction of such systems, and in fact they are rarely found in nature. In recent years, however, a large variety of lipid-interacting DNA conjugates were developed, which are now increasingly being applied also for the realization of DNA nanostructures interacting with lipid bilayer membranes. In this Account, we will present the current state of this emerging class of nanosystems. After a brief overview of the basic biophysical and biochemical properties of lipids and lipid bilayer membranes, we will discuss how DNA molecules can interact with lipid membranes through electrostatic interactions or via covalent modification with hydrophobic moieties. We will then show how such DNA-lipid interactions have been utilized for the realization of DNA nanostructures attached to or embedded within lipid bilayer membranes. Under certain conditions, DNA nanostructures remain mobile on membranes and can dynamically associate into higher order complexes. Hydrophobic modification of DNA nanostructures can further result in intra- or intermolecular aggregation, which can also be utilized as a structural switching mechanism. Appropriate design and chemical modification even allows insertion of DNA nanostructures into lipid bilayer membranes, resulting in artificial ion channel mimics made from DNA. Interactions of DNA nanodevices with living cells also involve interactions with membrane structures. DNA-based nanostructures can be directed to cell surfaces via antibody-antigen interactions, and their cellular uptake can be stimulated by modification with appropriate receptor ligands. In the future, membrane-embedded DNA nanostructures are expected to find application in diverse areas ranging from basic biological research over nanotechnology to synthetic biology.

The fast kinetics of induction and relaxation of bacteriochlorophyll prompt and delayed fluorescence together with absorption changes of the reaction center (RC) dimer (P) were measured by combination of flashes from laser diodes in intact cells of wild type, carotenoidless (R-26) and cytochrome c 2 deficient (CYCA) mutants of photosynthetic bacteria Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The fluorescence induction under high intensity of continuous light splits into fast and slow rises both overlapped by the (carotenoid and/or bacteriochlorophyll) triplet quenching. The fast phase is purely photochemical as it depends strongly on the number of photons absorbed. The slow phase is the combination of thermal and photochemical reactions and reflects the multiple turnover of the system. Upon short flash, the fluorescence yield cannot reach the maximum due to partial reopening of the RCs by rapid donor and acceptor side reactions. Longer flashes are needed to close the RC completely. Contrary to higher plants, the kinetics of induction and relaxation of the fluorescence yield in bacteria are controlled principally by P þ . The reactions on the quinone side play minor role. The quantitative determination of the cyclic electron transfer rate can be based on calibration to the quantity of P þ . 2797-SympDesign and Engineering of a Light-Activated Potassium Channel