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Updated: Jun 27, 2026
09:17
Assembly of Gold Nanorods into Chiral Plasmonic Metamolecules Using DNA Origami Templates
Published on: March 5, 2019
Mirror image DNA nanostructures for chiral supramolecular assemblies.
Chenxiang Lin1, Yonggang Ke, Zhe Li
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA.
Nano Letters
|December 10, 2008
Summary
Mirror-image L-DNA self-assembles into nanostructures with opposite chirality, complementing DNA nanotechnology. These L-DNA architectures offer enhanced nuclease resistance for potential in vivo medical uses.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Nanotechnology
- Materials Science
Background:
- Natural D-DNA is the basis for structural DNA nanotechnology.
- Exploring alternative DNA enantiomers can expand nanotechnology capabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the self-assembly properties of L-DNA.
- To characterize the resulting nanostructures and their properties.
- To evaluate L-DNA's potential as a complement to D-DNA nanotechnology.
Main Methods:
- Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
- Circular dichroism spectroscopy
- Atomic force microscopy
- Fluorescence microscopy
Main Results:
- L-DNA readily self-assembles into discrete and periodic nanostructures.
- The self-assembly of L-DNA yields supramolecules with opposite chirality compared to D-DNA.
- Characterization confirmed the formation and structure of L-DNA assemblies.
Conclusions:
- L-DNA self-assembly is a viable and complementary approach to structural DNA nanotechnology.
- L-DNA nanostructures exhibit superior resistance to nucleases.
- The nuclease resistance makes L-DNA architectures promising for in vivo biomedical applications.
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