Adjusting Linking Strands to Form Size-Controllable DNA Origami Rings

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Molecular Engineering
• Biophysics

Background:

• DNA origami is a versatile nanotechnology for creating complex nanostructures.
• Advanced nanoengineering requires efficient methods for multiform DNA architectures.
• Scaling up DNA origami constructions often increases complexity and cost.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an effective and low-cost method for creating multiform DNA origami architectures.
• To investigate an oblique linking strategy for connecting DNA origami blocks.
• To control the size and formation of DNA origami ring structures.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an oblique linking strategy to connect cross-shaped DNA origami units.
• Controlled the curing angle between connected DNA origami blocks.
• Varied the length of connection strands to influence ring size.

Main Results:

• Successfully constructed DNA origami rings with sizes ranging from four to eleven blocks (approx. 200 nm to 600 nm).
• Observed that the minimum ring size is limited by the width of a single DNA block.
• Found that thermodynamic randomness limits the formation of larger rings (more than eleven blocks).

Conclusions:

• The oblique linking strategy effectively generates diverse DNA origami rings.
• Ring size can be precisely controlled by adjusting connection strand length.
• This method offers a scalable and adaptable approach for DNA nanoengineering.