3 research outputs found

    Synchronized Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles Driven by a Dynamic DNA-Fueled Molecular Machine

    Full text link
    A strategy for gold nanoparticle (AuNP) assembly driven by a dynamic DNA-fueled molecular machine is revealed here. In this machine, the aggregation of DNA-functionalized AuNPs is regulated by a series of toehold-mediated strand displacement reactions of DNA. The aggregation rate of the AuNPs can be regulated by controlling the amount of oligonucleotide catalyst. The versatility of the dynamic DNA-fueled molecular machine in the construction of two-component “OR” and “AND” logic gates has been demonstrated. This newly established strategy may find broad potential applications in terms of building up an “interface” that allows the combination of the strand displacement-based characteristic of DNA with the distinct assembly properties of inorganic nanoparticles, ultimately leading to the fabrication of a wide range of complex multicomponent devices and architectures

    Integrating DNA-Strand-Displacement Circuitry with Self-Assembly of Spherical Nucleic Acids

    Full text link
    Programmable and algorithmic behaviors of DNA molecules allow one to control the structures of DNA-assembled materials with nanometer precision and to construct complex networks with digital and analog behaviors. Here we developed a way of integrating a DNA-strand-displacement circuit with self-assembly of spherical nucleic acids, wherein a single DNA strand was used to initiate and catalyze the operation of upstream circuits to release a single strand that subsequently triggers self-assembly of spherical nucleic acids in downstream circuits, realizing a programmable kinetic control of self-assembly of spherical nucleic acids. Through utilizing this method, single-nucleotide polymorphisms or indels occurring at different positions of a sequence of oligonucleotide were unambiguously discriminated. We provide here a sophisticated way of combining the DNA-strand-displacement-based characteristic of DNA with the distinct assembly properties of inorganic nanoparticles, which may find broad potential applications in the fabrication of a wide range of complex multicomponent devices and architectures

    What Controls the “Off/On Switch” in the Toehold-Mediated Strand Displacement Reaction on DNA Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles?

    Full text link
    In DNA dynamic nanotechnology, a toehold-mediated DNA strand-displacement reaction has demonstrated its capability in building complex autonomous system. In most cases, the reaction is performed in pure DNA solution that is essentially a one-phase system. In the present work, we systematically investigated the reaction in a heterogeneous media, in which the strand that implements a displacing action is conjugated on gold nanoparticles. By monitoring the kinetics of spherical nucleic acid (SNA) assembly driven by toehold-mediated strand displacement reaction, we observed significant differences, i.e., the abrupt jump in behavior of an “off/on switch”, in the reaction rate when the invading toehold was extended to eight bases from seven bases. These phenomena are attributed to the effect of steric hindrance arising from the high density of invading strand conjugated to AuNPs. Based on these studies, an INHIBIT logic gate presenting good selectivity was developed
    corecore