Double- to Single-Strand Transition Induces Forces and Motion in DNA Origami Nanostructures

Gur, Fatih N.; Kempter, Susanne; Schueder, Florian; Sikeler, Christoph; Urban, Maximilian J.; Jungmann, Ralf; Nickels, Philipp C. und Liedl, Tim (2021): Double- to Single-Strand Transition Induces Forces and Motion in DNA Origami Nanostructures. In: Advanced Materials, Bd. 33, Nr. 37, 2101986

Abstract

The design of dynamic, reconfigurable devices is crucial for the bottom-up construction of artificial biological systems. DNA can be used as an engineering material for the de-novo design of such dynamic devices. A self-assembled DNA origami switch is presented that uses the transition from double- to single-stranded DNA and vice versa to create and annihilate an entropic force that drives a reversible conformational change inside the switch. It is distinctively demonstrated that a DNA single-strand that is extended with 0.34 nm per nucleotide - the extension this very strand has in the double-stranded configuration - exerts a contractive force on its ends leading to large-scale motion. The operation of this type of switch is demonstrated via transmission electron microscopy, DNA-PAINT super-resolution microscopy and darkfield microscopy. The work illustrates the intricate and sometimes counter-intuitive forces that act in nanoscale physical systems that operate in fluids.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Physik
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 530 Physik
• ISSN: 0935-9648
• Sprache: Englisch