Mastering the complexity of DNA nanostructures.
The self-assembly of oligodeoxynucleotides is a versatile and powerful tool for the construction of objects in the nanoscale. The strictly information-driven pairing of DNA fragments can be used to rationally design and build nanostructures with planned topologies and geometries. Taking advantage of the steadily expanding library of well-characterized DNA motifs, several examples of structures with different dimensionalities have appeared in the literature in the past few years, laying the foundations for a promising DNA-mediated, bottom-up approach to nanotechnology. This article focuses on recent developments in this area of research and proposes a classification of DNA nanostructures based on topological considerations in addition to describing strategies for tackling the inherent complexities of such an endeavor.
Department of Biochemistry, G. Moruzzi University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 48, Bologna 40126, Italy.
Marco
M
Brucale
Giampaolo
G
Zuccheri
Bruno
B
Samorì
D001665:Binding Sites; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation
D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D004247:DNA