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AFM Imaging of Hybridization Chain Reaction Mediated Signal Transmission between Two DNA Origami Structures
Author(s) -
Helmig Sarah,
Gothelf Kurt Vesterager
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201706680
Subject(s) - dna origami , nanostructure , nanotechnology , signal (programming language) , dna nanotechnology , chain reaction , dna , nanoscopic scale , duplex (building) , branch migration , atomic force microscopy , chemistry , materials science , holliday junction , computer science , biochemistry , photochemistry , homologous recombination , programming language
Signal transfer is central to the controlled exchange of information in biology and advanced technologies. Therefore, the development of reliable, long‐range signal transfer systems for artificial nanoscale assemblies is of great scientific interest. We have designed such a system for the signal transfer between two connected DNA nanostructures, using the hybridization chain reaction (HCR). Two sets of metastable DNA hairpins, one of which is immobilized at specific points along tracks on DNA origami structures, are polymerized to form a continuous DNA duplex, which is visible using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Upon addition of a designed initiator, the initiation signal is efficiently transferred more than 200 nm from a specific location on one origami structure to an end point on another origami structure. The system shows no significant loss of signal when crossing from one nanostructure to another and, therefore, has the potential to be applied to larger multi‐component DNA assemblies.