Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 9 December 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5754, pp. 1661 - 1665
DOI: 10.1126/science.1120367
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Rapid Chiral Assembly of Rigid DNA Building Blocks for Molecular Nanofabrication

R. P. Goodman,1 I. A. T. Schaap,2 C. F. Tardin,2 C. M. Erben,1 R. M. Berry,1 C. F. Schmidt,2 A. J. Turberfield1*

Practical components for three-dimensional molecular nanofabrication must be simple to produce, stereopure, rigid, and adaptable. We report a family of DNA tetrahedra, less than 10 nanometers on a side, that can self-assemble in seconds with near-quantitative yield of one diastereomer. They can be connected by programmable DNA linkers. Their triangulated architecture confers structural stability; by compressing a DNA tetrahedron with an atomic force microscope, we have measured the axial compressibility of DNA and observed the buckling of the double helix under high loads.

1 Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
2 Department of Physics and Astronomy, de Boelelaan 1081, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 H Amsterdam, Netherlands.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: a.turberfield{at}physics.ox.ac.uk

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Designer Curvature.
Y. Liu and H. Yan (2009)
Science 325, 685-686
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Folding DNA into Twisted and Curved Nanoscale Shapes.
H. Dietz, S. M. Douglas, and W. M. Shih (2009)
Science 325, 725-730
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
In vivo cloning of artificial DNA nanostructures.
C. Lin, S. Rinker, X. Wang, Y. Liu, N. C. Seeman, and H. Yan (2008)
PNAS 105, 17626-17631
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Conformational flexibility facilitates self-assembly of complex DNA nanostructures.
C. Zhang, M. Su, Y. He, X. Zhao, P.-a. Fang, A. E. Ribbe, W. Jiang, and C. Mao (2008)
PNAS 105, 10665-10669
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Assembly and structural analysis of a covalently closed nano-scale DNA cage.
F. F. Andersen, B. Knudsen, C. L. P. Oliveira, R. F. Frohlich, D. Kruger, J. Bungert, M. Agbandje-McKenna, R. McKenna, S. Juul, C. Veigaard, et al. (2008)
Nucleic Acids Res. 36, 1113-1119
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Heat-resistant DNA tile arrays constructed by template-directed photoligation through 5-carboxyvinyl-2'-deoxyuridine.
M. Tagawa, K.-i. Shohda, K. Fujimoto, T. Sugawara, and A. Suyama (2007)
Nucleic Acids Res. 35, e140
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
DNA-mediated anisotropic mechanical reinforcement of a virus.
C. Carrasco, A. Carreira, I. A. T. Schaap, P. A. Serena, J. Gomez-Herrero, M. G. Mateu, and P. J. de Pablo (2006)
PNAS 103, 13706-13711
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)