Long‐range assembly of DNA into nanofibers and highly ordered networks

Abstract

Long-range assembly of DNA currently comprises both top-down and bottom-up methods. The top-down techniques consist of physical alignment of DNA and lithographic patterning to organize DNA on surfaces. The bottom-up approaches include lipid-and polymer-DNA co-assembly, the self-assembly of DNA amphiphiles, and the remarkably specific and versatile methods of DNA nanotechnology. DNA-based materials possess unprecedented molecular control and may offer innovative solutions in the fields of nanotechnology, sensing, nanomedicine, as well as optical and electronic devices. To realize the potential of these materials, a number of hurdles must be addressed. Bridging the gap between top-down fabrication and bottom-up assembly is of critical importance to the successful development of functional DNA-based technology. A profound understanding of both regimes is necessary to achieve this goal.

Supracolloidal Assemblies as Sacrificial Templates for Porous Silk-Based Biomaterials

“…As the hierarchical supracolloidal assemblies act as sacrificial templates to generate porous biomaterials, we believe that it should be possible to tune the properties of such supracolloidal assemblies in a rational way that will enable the generation of biomaterials instructing cells to assemble in complex biomimetic patterns (e.g., concentric lamellae observed in cortical bone, or helicoidal multi-lamellar alignment of corneal stroma tissue). Recent advances in supramolecular architectonics, particularly DNA-mediated interactions that have programmable structures from the Å to colloidal length scales suggest that we will see the first examples of these in the near future [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Moreover, the rational design of the constituent supramolecular building blocks [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ] offers the prospect of precisely positioning functional species (e.g., nanoparticles) that may deliver therapeutics with precise spatial control, or sense and report changes in the properties of the surrounding tissues (e.g., clusters of nanoparticles whose optical properties change in response to chemical, electrical or mechanical triggers), which may be of use both in vitro and perhaps also in vivo .…”

“…Evidence for which can be observed in the predominantly dendritic pore structures in foams derived from formic acid and hexafluoroacetone hydrate instead of the more linear pore structures in foams derived from hexafluorisopropanol or water. In the future we foresee prospects for tuning the polymer-porogen interactions that will facilitate rational design of pore structure within biomaterials (particularly if DNA-architectonics were employed) [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ].…”

Crystallographic analysis of an RNA polymerase σ-subunit fragment complexed with −10 promoter element ssDNA: quadruplex formation as a possible tool for engineering crystal contacts in protein–ssDNA complexes

“…DNA self-assembly properties have been employed for building a great variety of ordered molecular patterns (Seeman, 2010;Carneiro et al, 2013). One of the promising applications of DNA nanotechnology is in organizing other molecular species on nucleic acid scaffolds.…”

DNA‐Grafted Supramolecular Polymers: Helical Ribbon Structures Formed by Self‐Assembly of Pyrene–DNA Chimeric Oligomers

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Themerging of organic entities,such as polymers, [13] lipid chains, [14,15] or aromatic molecules [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] with DNAmotifs enables the design and engineering of supramolecular architectures with special optical, mechanical, or biological properties. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Themerging of organic entities,such as polymers, [13] lipid chains, [14,15] or aromatic molecules [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] with DNAmotifs enables the design and engineering of supramolecular architectures with special optical, mechanical, or biological properties.…”

“…DNA plays an important role in modern nanotechnology. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Themerging of organic entities,such as polymers, [13] lipid chains, [14,15] or aromatic molecules [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] with DNAmotifs enables the design and engineering of supramolecular architectures with special optical, mechanical, or biological properties. [25][26][27][28][29][30] While the self-assembly behavior of the resulting DNAconjugates is controlled by base-pairing interactions, [31] the overall structural and functional properties of the hybrid materials can be directed by the conjugated moieties.…”