A DNA-Based Molecular System That Can Autonomously Add and Extract Components.

Area of Science:

• Biomolecular Engineering
• Synthetic Biology
• Materials Science

Background:

• Natural molecular systems autonomously manage components for complex functions.
• Artificial molecular systems can mimic life-like properties through component management.
• DNA self-assembly offers a versatile platform for creating dynamic molecular structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and demonstrate a dynamic multicomponent molecular system using DNA self-assembly.
• To achieve autonomous addition and extraction of molecular components triggered by molecular signals.
• To enable programmable and orthogonal control over molecular component management.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing DNA sequence design to achieve orthogonality in molecular components.
• Constructing a three-component DNA tubular system capable of selective component addition/extraction.
• Demonstrating environmental responsiveness, such as proton-triggered molecular extraction.
• Engineering on-demand disassembly of DNA tubes for cellular uptake.

Main Results:

• Successfully designed a DNA self-assembly system for autonomous component management.
• Achieved orthogonal and programmable addition/extraction of one, two, or three components.
• Showcased environmental responsiveness for molecular extraction.
• Demonstrated that DNA tubes can be disassembled for cellular applications.

Conclusions:

• This work presents a novel DNA-based dynamic multicomponent molecular system.
• The system demonstrates programmable and autonomous control over molecular components.
• The findings pave the way for more complex and functional synthetic materials.
• This approach has potential applications in cellular uptake and beyond DNA self-assembly.