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Single-molecule chemical reactions on DNA origami

Nature Nanotechnology volume 5, pages 200–203 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

DNA nanotechnology1,2 and particularly DNA origami3, in which long, single-stranded DNA molecules are folded into predetermined shapes, can be used to form complex self-assembled nanostructures4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Although DNA itself has limited chemical, optical or electronic functionality, DNA nanostructures can serve as templates for building materials with new functional properties. Relatively large nanocomponents such as nanoparticles and biomolecules can also be integrated into DNA nanostructures and imaged11,12,13. Here, we show that chemical reactions with single molecules can be performed and imaged at a local position on a DNA origami scaffold by atomic force microscopy. The high yields and chemoselectivities of successive cleavage and bond-forming reactions observed in these experiments demonstrate the feasibility of post-assembly chemical modification of DNA nanostructures and their potential use as locally addressable solid supports.

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Figure 1: Predetermined positioning of streptavidin on a DNA origami scaffold.
Figure 2: Chemical cleavage reactions on DNA origami.
Figure 3: Chemical coupling reactions on DNA origami.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank V. Birkedal and T. LaBean for valuable comments regarding the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the Danish National Research Foundation to the CDNA centre and the Danish Research Agency through support for the iNANO Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for DNA Nanotechnology (CDNA) at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, Aarhus C, DK-8000, Denmark

    Niels V. Voigt, Thomas Tørring, Alexandru Rotaru, Mikkel F. Jacobsen, Jens B. Ravnsbæk, Ramesh Subramani, Wael Mamdouh, Jørgen Kjems, Flemming Besenbacher & Kurt Vesterager Gothelf

  2. Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, DK-8000, Denmark

    Niels V. Voigt, Thomas Tørring, Alexandru Rotaru, Mikkel F. Jacobsen, Jens B. Ravnsbæk & Kurt Vesterager Gothelf

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, DK-8000, Denmark

    Ramesh Subramani, Wael Mamdouh & Flemming Besenbacher

  4. Department of Molecular Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, DK-8000, Denmark

    Jørgen Kjems

  5. Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Ruprecht-Karls University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Andriy Mokhir

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  1. Niels V. Voigt
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Contributions

N.V.V., T.T. and A.R. contributed equally to the design and execution of the experiments. M.F.J. and J.B.R. synthesized some of the organic compounds. R.S. and W.M. assisted in the AFM imaging. A.M. provided Linker C. J.K. and F.B. advised on the project. K.V.G. directed the project and co-wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Kurt Vesterager Gothelf.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Voigt, N., Tørring, T., Rotaru, A. et al. Single-molecule chemical reactions on DNA origami. Nature Nanotech 5, 200–203 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.5

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