A Smart DNA Tetrahedron That Isothermally Assembles or Dissociates in Response to the Solution pH Value Changes

This communication reports a DNA tetrahedron whose self-assembly is triggered by an acidic environment. The key element is the formation/dissociation of a short, cytosine (C)-containing, DNA triplex. As the solution pH value oscillates between 5.0 and 8.0, the DNA triplex will form and dissociate that, in turn, leads to assembly or disassembly of the DNA tetrahedron, which has been demonstrated by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). We believe that such environment-responsive behavior will be important for potential applications of DNA nanocages such as on-demand drug release

Artificial, Parallel, Left-Handed DNA Helices

This communication reports an engineered DNA architecture. It contains multiple domains of half-turn-long, standard B-DNA duplexes. While each helical domain is right-handed and its two component strands are antiparallel, the global architecture is left-handed and the two component DNA strands are oriented parallel to each other