Gene-therapy Inspired Polycation Coating for Protection of DNA Origami Nanostructures

Abstract

DNA origami nanostructures hold an immense potential to be used for biological and medical applications. However, low-salt conditions and nucleases in physiological fluids induce denaturation and degradation of self-assembled DNA nanostructures. In non-viral gene delivery, enzymatic degradation of DNA is overcome by the encapsulation of the negatively charged DNA in a cationic shell. Herein, inspired by gene delivery advancements, a simple, one-step and robust methodology is presented for the stabilization of DNA origami nanostructures by coating them with chitosan and linear polyethyleneimine. The polycation coating efficiently protects DNA origami nanostructures in Mg-depleted and nuclease-rich media. This method also preserves the full addressability of enzyme-and aptamer-based functionalization of DNA nanostructures.

The Brownian and Flow‐Driven Rotational Dynamics of a Multicomponent DNA Origami‐Based Rotor

“…[ 33 ] The propeller and inner‐rotor were modified based on two similar origami structures from the previous publications. [ 34,35 ] The cross‐section view and blue prints of all DNA origami structures are illustrated in Sections S2–S6 (Supporting Information). For self‐assembly, scaffold (10 × 10 −9 m ) and staple strands (100 × 10 −9 m ) were mixed in 100 µL Tris buffer (5 × 10 −3 m Tris, 1 × 10 −3 m EDTA, 5 × 10 −3 m NaCl) containing variable concentration of MgCl 2 (12 ‐26 × 10 −3 m ).…”

Adenita: Interactive 3D modeling and visualization of DNA Nanostructures

“…The DNA nanostructures were prepared based on protocols already described in the work of Ahmadi et al [23,24]. These nanorods were initially designed with Cadnano 2.2.0 using the p8064 single stranded scaffold.…”