Isothermal Disorder-to-Order Transitions of DNA Origami Structures Induced by Alternative Component Subsets

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Nanotechnology
• Molecular Engineering

Background:

• DNA origami is a powerful technique for constructing nanoscale structures.
• Mimicking biomolecular transitions in DNA origami is crucial for advanced applications.
• Current methods often require specific conditions for controlled folding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a room-temperature strategy for inducing disorder-to-order transitions in DNA origami.
• To engineer biomimetic DNA molecular machines inspired by intrinsically disordered proteins.
• To control DNA origami folding pathways for robust convergence to the global energy minimum.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a triangular DNA origami model with defined subsets of DNA staples based on spatial distribution.
• Employed atomic force microscopy (AFM) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to analyze structural transitions.
• Investigated the effect of adding remaining staples to metastable, disordered assemblies.

Main Results:

• Individual DNA staple subsets formed metastable, disordered structures with elevated free-energy fluctuations.
• Addition of remaining staples induced transformation into ordered triangular DNA origami architectures.
• Achieved high yields (up to ~60%) of ordered structures within 2 hours at room temperature.

Conclusions:

• Controlled folding pathways can reliably guide DNA origami to their global energy minimum at room temperature.
• This strategy offers a promising alternative for engineering sophisticated, biomimetic DNA molecular machines.
• The findings advance the field of DNA nanotechnology and molecular machine design.