Programming DNA Tube Circumference by Tile Offset Connection

DNA tubes with prescribed circumferences are appealing for numerous multidisciplinary applications. The DNA single-stranded tiles (SSTs) assembly method has demonstrated an unprecedented capability for programming the circumferences of DNA tubes in a modular fashion. Nevertheless, a distinct set of SSTs is typically required to assemble DNA tube of a specific circumference, with wider tubes requiring higher numbers of tiles of unique sequences, which not only increases the expense and design complexity but also hampers the assembly yield. Herein, we introduce "offset connection" to circumvent such challenges in conventional SST tube assembly. In this new connection scheme, the boundary SST tiles in an SST array are designed to connect in an offset manner. To compensate for the offset, the SST array has to grow wider until the array can close to form a wide tube with a tolerable degree of twist. Using this strategy, we have successfully assembled DNA tubes with prescribed circumferences consisting of 8, 12, 14, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 42, 56, or 70 helices from two distinct sets of SSTs composed of 19×4 or 19×14 tiles.