Premium
A Signal‐Passing DNA‐Strand‐Exchange Mechanism for Active Self‐Assembly of DNA Nanostructures
Author(s) -
Padilla Jennifer E.,
Sha Ruojie,
Kristiansen Martin,
Chen Junghuei,
Jonoska Natasha,
Seeman Nadrian C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201500252
Subject(s) - dna , tile , dna origami , self assembly , signal (programming language) , nanotechnology , dna nanotechnology , mechanism (biology) , nanostructure , chemistry , biophysics , materials science , computer science , physics , biology , biochemistry , quantum mechanics , programming language , composite material
DNA nanostructured tiles play an active role in their own self‐assembly in the system described herein whereby they initiate a binding event that produces a cascading assembly process. We present DNA tiles that have a simple but powerful property: they respond to a binding event at one end of the tile by passing a signal across the tile to activate a binding site at the other end. This action allows sequential, virtually irreversible self‐assembly of tiles and enables local communication during the self‐assembly process. This localized signal‐passing mechanism provides a new element of control for autonomous self‐assembly of DNA nanostructures.