Near-Atomic Fabrication with Nucleic Acids

Abstract

Nucleic acids hold great promise for bottom-up construction of nanostructures via programmable self-assembly. Especially, the emerging of advanced sequence design principles and the maturation of chemical synthesis of nucleic acids together have led to the rapid development of structural DNA/RNA nanotechnology. Diverse nucleic acids-based nano objects and patterns have been constructed with near-atomic resolutions and with controllable sizes and geometries. The monodispersed distribution of objects, the up-to-submillimeter scalability of patterns, and the excellent feasibility of carrying other materials with spatial and temporal resolutions have made DNA/RNA assemblies extremely unique in molecular engineering. In this review, we summarize recent advances in nucleic acids-based (mainly DNA-based) near-atomic fabrication by focusing on state-of-the-art design techniques, toolkits for DNA/RNA nanoengineering, and related applications in a range of areas.

DNA Origami Nano-Sheets and Nano-Rods Alter the Orientational Order in a Lyotropic Chromonic Liquid Crystal

“…The influence of rod-like or disk-like nano-particles on the orientational order parameter of the LCLC is investigated in the low concentration limit, where interaction of the nano-particles can be neglected. The DNA origami technique [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ] was used in order to synthesize nano-particles with extremely precise shape. In addition to the baseline investigation presented here, LC–NP-composites have potential for complex developments, because the highly precise tailored NPs obtained by the DNA origami technique may be ordered on a larger scale through LC–NP interaction, thereby bridging the gap between NP synthesis and NP assembly, and finally controlling macroscopic material properties.…”

“…The precision of the NP structure is governed by the distance of neighboring nucleotides (≈0.34 nm), the diameter of the DNA double helix (≈2 nm) and the helix pitch (≈10.5 nucleotide spacings). This level of control facilitates fabrication with near-atomic precision [ 27 , 28 ]. Functionalization with chromophores, semiconducting, plasmonic or magnetic particles, and photo- or biosensitive molecular units, tensegrity designs, incorporation of molecular springs or single-stranded DNA handles, and other modifications have not only facilitated the fabrication of very precise static and dynamic nanostructures for microscopic fundamental research, but also made applications in photonics, materials science, biology and medicine feasible [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ].…”

Nucleic Acids Analysis

“…Al-though the architecture species and constructions are not as impressive as the DNA nanostructure family, RNA nanostructures preserve the outstanding ability of cellular amplification and in-vivo assembly [286,287]. Publications in recent years indicate that the merging of DNA and RNA nanotechnology as a current trend may eventually integrate the structural programmability and the bio-functionality of the two kinds of nucleic acids [288][289][290].…”

Toward Smart Information Processing with Synthetic DNA Molecules

“…In recent years, inspired by the multistage assembly of biological structures, programmed assembly of DNA origami monomers into higher‐order structures has also become a hot topic of research. [ 37 ] For example, Qian et al. adopted one of the scale‐up methods—fractal assembly, which uses a variety of DNA origami tiles to form a 2 × 2 pattern, then a 4 × 4 pattern, and finally an 8 × 8 pattern.…”

“…Reproduced with permission. [ 37 ] Copyright 2020, American Chemical Society. b) 3D assembly with single‐stranded tiles.…”