Self-Regeneration and Self-Healing in DNA Origami Nanostructures

DNA nanotechnology and advances in the DNA origami technique have enabled facile design and synthesis of complex and functional nanostructures. Molecular devices are, however, prone to rapid functional and structural degradation due to the high proportion of surface atoms at the nanoscale and due to complex working environments. Besides stabilizing mechanisms, approaches for the self-repair of functional molecular devices are desirable. Here we exploit the self-assembly and reconfigurability of DNA origami nanostructures to induce the self-repair of defects of photoinduced and enzymatic damage. We provide examples of repair in DNA nanostructures showing the difference between unspecific self-regeneration and damage specific self-healing mechanisms. Using DNA origami nanorulers studied by atomic force and superresolution DNA PAINT microscopy, quantitative preservation of fluorescence properties is demonstrated with direct potential for improving nanoscale calibration samples.