Integrating DNA-strand-displacement circuitry with self-assembly of spherical nucleic acids

Programmable and algorithmic behaviors of DNA molecules allow one to control the structures of DNA-assembled materials with nanometer precision and to construct complex networks with digital and analog behaviors. Here we developed a way of integrating a DNA-strand-displacement circuit with self-assembly of spherical nucleic acids, wherein a single DNA strand was used to initiate and catalyze the operation of upstream circuits to release a single strand that subsequently triggers self-assembly of spherical nucleic acids in downstream circuits, realizing a programmable kinetic control of self-assembly of spherical nucleic acids. Through utilizing this method, single-nucleotide polymorphisms or indels occurring at different positions of a sequence of oligonucleotide were unambiguously discriminated. We provide here a sophisticated way of combining the DNA-strand-displacement-based characteristic of DNA with the distinct assembly properties of inorganic nanoparticles, which may find broad potential applications in the fabrication of a wide range of complex multicomponent devices and architectures.