skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Topological Assembly of a Deployable Hoberman Flight Ring from DNA
Abstract Deployable geometries are finite auxetic structures that preserve their overall shapes during expansion and contraction. The topological behaviors emerge from intricately arranged elements and their connections. Despite the considerable utility of such configurations in nature and in engineering, deployable nanostructures have never been demonstrated. Here a deployable flight ring, a simplified planar structure of Hoberman sphere is shown, using DNA origami. The DNA flight ring consists of topologically assembled six triangles in two layers that can slide against each other, thereby switching between two distinct (open and closed) states. The origami topology is a trefoil knot, and its auxetic reconfiguration results in negative Poisson's ratios. This work shows the feasibility of deployable nanostructures, providing a versatile platform for topological studies and opening new opportunities for bioengineering.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1710344
PAR ID:
10452428
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Small
Volume:
17
Issue:
11
ISSN:
1613-6810
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract Recent advances in computer-aided design tools have helped rapidly advance the development of wireframe DNA origami nanostructures. Specifically, automated tools now exist that can convert an input polyhedral mesh into a DNA origami nanostructure, greatly reducing the design difficulty for wireframe DNA origami nanostructures. However, one limitation of these automated tools is that they require a designer to fully conceptualize their intended nanostructure, which may be limited by their own preconceptions. Here, a generative design framework is introduced capable of generating many wireframe DNA origami nanostructures without the need for a predefined mesh. User-defined objectives that guide the generative process are input as either single- or multi-objective optimization problems. A graph grammar is used to both contextualize physical properties of the DNA nanostructure and control the types of generated design features. This framework allows a designer to explore upon and ideate among many generated nanostructures that comply with their own unique constraints. A web-based graphical user interface is provided, allowing users to compare various generated solutions side by side in an interactive environment. Overall, this work illustrates how a constrained generative design framework can be implemented as an assistive tool in exploring design-feature trade-offs of wireframe DNA nanostructures, resulting in novel wireframe nanostructures. 
    more » « less
  2. Zhang, Yuliang (Ed.)
    DNA origami purification is essential for many fields, including biophysics, molecular engineering, and therapeutics. The increasing interest in DNA origami has led to the development of rate-zonal centrifugation (RZC) as a scalable, high yield, and contamination-free method for purifying DNA origami nanostructures. RZC purification uses a linear density gradient of viscous media, such as glycerol or sucrose, to separate molecules according to their mass and shape. However, many methods for creating density gradients are time-consuming because they rely on slow passive diffusion. To expedite the preparation time, we used a LEGO gradient mixer to generate rotational motion and rapidly create a quasi-continuous density gradient with a minimal layering of the viscous media. Rotating two layers of differing concentrations at an angle decreases the time needed to form the density gradient from a few hours to minutes. In this study, the density gradients created by the LEGO gradient mixer were used to purify 3 DNA origami shapes that have different aspect ratios and numbers of components, with an aspect ratio ranging from 1:1 to 1:100 and the number of components up to 2. The gradient created by our LEGO gradient mixer is sufficient to purify folded DNA origami nanostructures from excess staple strands, regardless of their aspect ratios. Moreover, the gradient was able to separate DNA origami dimers from DNA origami monomers. In light of recent advances in large-scale DNA origami production, our method provides an alternative for purifying DNA origami nanostructures in large (gram) quantities in resource-limited settings. 
    more » « less
  3. Nucleic acids self-assembly has rapidly advanced to produce multi-dimensional nanostructures with precise sizes and shapes. DNA nanostructures hold great potential for a wide range of applications, including biocatalysis, smart materials, molecular diagnosis, and therapeutics. Here, we present a study of using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and nanoparticles tracking analysis (NTA) to analyze DNA origami nanostructures for their size distribution and particles concentrations. Compared to DLS, NTA demonstrated higher resolution of size measurement with a smaller FWHM and was well suited for characterizing multimerization of DNA nanostructures. We future used intercalation dye to enhance the fluorescence signals of DNA origami to increase the detection sensitivity. By optimizing intercalation dyes and the dye-to-DNA origami ratio, fluorescent NTA was able to accurately quantify the concentration of dye-intercalated DNA nanostructures, closely matching with values obtained by UV absorbance at 260 nm. This optimized fluorescent NTA method offers an alternative approach for determining the concentration of DNA nanostructures based on their size distribution, in addition to commonly used UV absorbance quantification. This detailed information of size and concentration is not only crucial for production and quality control but could also provide mechanistic insights in various applications of DNA nanomaterials. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract The field of nucleic acid self‐assembly has advanced significantly, enabling the creation of multi‐dimensional nanostructures with precise sizes and shapes. These nanostructures hold great potential for various applications, including biocatalysis, smart materials, molecular diagnosis, and therapeutics. Here, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) are employed to investigate DNA origami nanostructures, focusing on size distribution and particle concentration. Compared to DLS, NTA provided higher resolution in size measurement with a smaller full‐width at half‐maximum (FWHM), making it particularly suitable for characterizing DNA nanostructure. To enhance sensitivity, a fluorescent NTA method is developed by incorporating an intercalation dye to amplify the fluorescence signals of DNA origami. This method is validated by analyzing various DNA origami structures, ranging from 1 and 2D flexible structures to 3D compact shapes, and evaluating structural assembly yields. Additionally, NTA is used to analyze dynamic DNA nanocages that undergo conformational switches among linear, square, and pyramid shapes in response to the addition of trigger strands. Quantitative size distribution data is crucial not only for production quality control but also for providing mechanistic insights into the various applications of DNA nanomaterials. 
    more » « less
  5. DNA nanotechnology has broad applications in biomedical drug delivery and pro- grammable materials. Characterization of the self-assembly of DNA origami and quan- tum dots (QDs) is necessary for the development of new DNA-based nanostructures. We use computation and experiment to show that the self-assembly of 3D hierarchi- cal nanostructures can be controlled by programming the binding site number and their positions on DNA origami. Using biotinylated pentagonal pyramid wireframe DNA origamis and streptavidin capped QDs, we demonstrate that DNA origami with 1 binding site at the outer vertex can assemble multi-meric origamis with up to 6 DNA origamis on 1 QD, and DNA origami with 1 binding site at the inner center can only assemble monomeric and dimeric origamis. Meanwhile, the yield percentages of differ- ent multi-meric origamis are controlled by the QD:DNA-origami stoichiometric mixing ratio. DNA origamis with 2 binding sites at the αγ positions (of the pentagon) make larger nanostructures than those with binding sites at the αβ positions. In general, increasing the number of binding sites leads to increases in the nanostructure size. At high DNA origami concentration, the QD number in each cluster becomes the limiting factor for the growth of nanostructures. We find that reducing the QD size can also affect the self-assembly because of the reduced access to the binding sites from more densely packed origamis. 
    more » « less