title: Rapid chiral assembly of rigid DNA building blocks for molecular nanofabrication.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: I A T
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Schaap
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Tardin
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Erben
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Turberfield
mesh_terms: D020029:Base Pairing; D001483:Base Sequence; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002627:Chemistry, Physical; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D019281:Dimerization; D004548:Elasticity; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure; D049329:Nanostructures; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D004247:DNA