Construction and assembly of branched Y-shaped DNA: "click" chemistry performed on dendronized 8-aza-7-deazaguanine oligonucleotides
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Updated: May 23, 2026

Design and Synthesis of a Reconfigurable DNA Accordion Rack
Published on: August 15, 2018
Hai Xiong1, Peter Leonard, Frank Seela
1Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Nanotechnology, Heisenbergstrasse 11, 48149 Münster, Germany.
Abstract:
Branched DNA was synthesized from tripropargylated oligonucleotides by the Huisgen-Meldal-Sharpless cycloaddition using "stepwise and double click" chemistry. Dendronized oligonucleotides decorated with 7-tripropargylamine side chains carrying two terminal triple bonds were further functionalized with bis-azides to give derivatives with two terminal azido groups. Then, the branched side chains with two azido groups or two triple bonds were combined with DNA-fragments providing the corresponding clickable function. Both concepts afforded branched (Y-shaped) three-armed DNA. Annealing of branched DNA with complementary oligonucleotides yielded supramolecular assemblies. The concept of "stepwise and double click" chemistry combined with selective hybridization represents a flexible tool to generate DNA nanostructures useful for various purposes in DNA diagnostics, delivery, and material science applications.
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