Purification of Self‐Assembled DNA Tetrahedra Using Gel Electrophoresis

Abstract

DNA nanostructures have found applications in a variety of fields such as biosensing, drug delivery, cellular imaging, and computation. Several of these applications require purification of the DNA nanostructures once they are assembled. Gel electrophoresis–based purification of DNA nanostructures is one of the methods used for this purpose. Here, we describe a step‐by‐step protocol for a gel‐based method to purify self‐assembled DNA tetrahedra. With further optimization, this method could also be adapted for other DNA nanostructures. © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol: Purification of self‐assembled DNA tetrahedra

The role of size in biostability of DNA tetrahedra

“…We confirmed formation of the tetrahedra using non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) by comparing the structure to control lanes containing subsets of components strands (Figure 1c and Figure S1). We then purified the assembled DNA tetrahedra of all three sizes using a gel-based method 17 to eliminate higher order aggregates and single strands that were not incorporated into the tetrahedron. After validating formation of the DNA tetrahedra, we first tested nuclease resistance of these structures against DNase I.…”

The role of size in biostability of DNA tetrahedra

“…S1, ESI †). We then purified the assembled DNA tetrahedra of all three sizes using a gel-based method 17 to eliminate higher order aggregates and single strands that were not incorporated into the tetrahedron (Fig. S2, ESI †).…”