Mechanics of dynamic and deformable DNA nanostructures

Li, Ruixin; Madhavacharyula, Anirudh Sampath; Du, Yancheng; Adepu, Harshith; Choi, Jong Hyun

doi:10.1039/d3sc01793a

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 249 publications

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“…27,31,49,50 In addition, DNA-based structural design can be used to build metamaterials with multimode reconfigurability that can detect and respond to complex surroundings and show adaptive mechanical properties. For example, combined with aptamers, i-motifs or enzymatic reactions, 51–56 DNA-based metamaterials will have strong potential to respond to environmental changes ( e.g. , pH change or the presence/absence of target molecules) with mechanical responses ( e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA nanostar structures with tunable auxetic properties

Du,

Li,

Madhvacharyula

et al. 2024

Mol. Syst. Des. Eng.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA nanostar structures with tunable auxetic properties

Du,

Li,

Madhvacharyula

et al. 2024

Mol. Syst. Des. Eng.

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DNA Nanostar Structures with Tunable Auxetic Properties

Du,

Li,

Madhvacharyula

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Auxetic structures are unique with a negative Poisson’s ratio. Unlike regular materials, they response to external loading with simultaneous expansion or compression in all directions, rendering powerful properties advantageous in diverse applications from manufacturing to space engineering. The auxetic behaviors are determined by structural design and architecture. Such structures have been discovered in natural crystals and demonstrated synthetically with bulk materials. Recent development of DNA-based structures has pushed the unit cell size to nanometer scale. DNA nanotechnology utilizes sequence complementarity between nucleotides. By combining sequence designs with programmable self-assembly, it is possible to construct complex structures with nanoscale accuracy and to perform dynamic reconfigurations. Herein, we report a novel design of auxetic nanostars with sliding behaviors using DNA origami. Our proposed structure, inspired by an Islamic pattern, demonstrates a unit cell with two distinct reconfigurations by programming directed sliding mechanisms. Compared to previous metamaterials, the DNA nanostars show an architecture with tunable auxetic properties for the first time. We envision that this strategy may form the basis of novel metastructures with adaptability and open new possibilities in bioengineering.

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Realizing Mechanical Frustration at the Nanoscale Using DNA Origami

Madhvacharyula,

Li,

Swett

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Structural designs inspired by physical and biological systems have been previously utilized to develop advanced mechanical metamaterials. These are based on the clever geometric arrangement of their building blocks, resulting in enhanced mechanical properties such as shape morphing and auxetic behavior. Until now, the benefits from such designs have yet to be leveraged at the nanoscale. Here, we use the DNA origami method to realize a nanoscale metastructure exhibiting mechanical frustration, the mechanical counterpart of the well-known phenomenon of magnetic frustration. We show that this DNA metastructure can be precisely controlled to adopt either frustrated or non-frustrated mechanical states, each characterized by a distinct free energy profile. Switching among the states is achieved by engineering reconfigurable struts into the structure. Actuation of the struts causes a global deformation of the metastructures. In the non-frustrated state, strain can be distributed homogeneously throughout the structure, while in the frustrated state, strain is concentrated at a specific location. Molecular dynamics simulations reconcile the contrasting behaviors of the two modes and provide detailed insights into the mechanics. Our work demonstrates how combining programmable DNA self-assembly with mechanical design principles can overcome engineering limitations encountered at the macroscale, enabling the development of dynamic, deformable nanostructures with tunable responses. These may lay the foundation for mechanical energy storage elements, nanomechanical computation, and allosteric mechanisms in DNA-based nanomachinery.

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Mechanics of dynamic and deformable DNA nanostructures

Abstract: In DNA nanotechnology, DNA molecules are designed, engineered, and assembled into arbitrary-shaped architectures with predesigned functions. Static DNA assemblies often have delicate designs with structural rigidity to overcome thermal fluctuations....

Cited by 3 publications

References 249 publications

DNA nanostar structures with tunable auxetic properties

DNA nanostar structures with tunable auxetic properties

DNA Nanostar Structures with Tunable Auxetic Properties

Realizing Mechanical Frustration at the Nanoscale Using DNA Origami

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