Nano-Encrypted Morse Code: A Versatile Approach to Programmable and Reversible Nanoscale Assembly and Disassembly

Abstract

While much work has been devoted to nanoscale assembly of functional materials, selective reversible assembly of components in the nanoscale pattern at selective sites has received much less attention. Exerting such a reversible control of the assembly process will make it possible to fine-tune the functional properties of the assembly and to realize more complex designs. Herein, by taking advantage of different binding affinities of biotin and desthiobiotin toward streptavidin, we demonstrate selective and reversible decoration of DNA origami tiles with streptavidin, including revealing an encrypted Morse code “NANO” and reversible exchange of uppercase letter “I” with lowercase “i”. The yields of the conjugations are high (> 90%) and the process is reversible. We expect this versatile conjugation technique to be widely applicable with different nanomaterials and templates.

Prescribing DNA Origami Patterns via Scaffold Decoration

“…These results proved that the toehold displacement strategy could be useful for making erasable patterns on DNA origami and may have varied potential applications such as switchable platform to direct biomolecular reactions [ 26 ] and steganography display. [ 27 ]…”

Applications of Synchrotron‐Based Spectroscopic Techniques in Studying Nucleic Acids and Nucleic Acid‐Functionalized Nanomaterials

“…The intrinsic programmable property of DNA to form Watson‐Crick base pairs with complementary strands has also been shown to be a foundation for bionanotechnology. With a diameter of about 2 nm and a repeat of helical pitch every 3.4–3.6 nm, the stiff helical DNA molecule has proven to be a versatile building block for ‘bottom‐up’ constructions of complex structures with subnanometer precision . The concept of using approximately 200 short staple DNA strands to direct the folding of a long scaffold strand into desired two‐and three‐dimensional nanostructures gave birth to the field of DNA origami .…”

“…Since the early advent of individual DNA objects such as a quadrilateral and a cube, numerous artificial DNA structures have been constructed, including tubes, 2D and 3D lattices and assemblies . Moreover, because of the special electronic, magnetic, and photonic properties of programmable assembly nanomaterials, as well as the potential use of 3D DNA crystal lattices in structure biology for protein structure determination, many structural DNA and DNA origami's have been used as platforms to arrange functional nanomaterials such as metals, nanoparticles, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes and proteins at nanometer scale. It has been demonstrated that DNA‐based nanomaterials can assemble into periodic macroscopic structures in a well‐controlled manner, with the precision of such ordered structures difficult to achieve by other means of fabrication.…”

Create Nanoscale Patterns with DNA Origami

“…D) Reconfigurable protein patterns were used for Morse code encryption or decryption. Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2013, American Chemical Society.…”

“…Three types of linkers were used in the 12 staple strands conjugated with biotin molecule, including noncleavable linker A, linker B containing a disulphide moiety that could be cleaved by reduction, and linker C containing an electron‐rich 1,2‐bis(alkylthio)ethene moiety that could be cleaved by singlet oxygen. They found that linker type B could be cleaved after incubating DNA origami with 1,4‐dithiothreitol (DTT), and singlet oxygen photosensitizer eosin treated sample under white light resulted in complete disappearance of streptavidin in the positions corresponding to DNA conjugates containing linker C. In another work, by taking the advantage of different binding affinities of biotin and desthiobiotin toward streptavidin, Lu and co‐workers demonstrated the information encryption and transformation by reconfigurable pattern of STV, such as an encrypted Morse code “NANO” and reversible exchange of uppercase letter “I” with lowercase “i” (Figure D).…”