title: Construction of three-dimensional stick figures from branched DNA.
abstract: Stable DNA branched junction molecules can be used as the building blocks for stick-figures in which the edges are double-helical DNA and the vertices correspond to the branch points of the junctions. Sticky-ended cohesion is used to direct the association of individual branched complexes. The sequences of these molecules are assigned by a sequence-symmetry minimization procedure. Successful ligation experiments include the oligomerization of individual three-arm and four-arm junctions, the assembly of a quadrilateral from four junctions with different sticky ends, and the recent construction of a molecule with the connectivity of a cube. Possible applications include the assembly of molecular electronic devices, the formation of macromolecular-scale zeolites to host biological complexes for diffraction analysis, and the development of new catalysts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, New York University 10003.
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Seeman
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation
chemical_list: D004247:DNA