title: DNA zipper-based tweezers.
abstract: Here we report the design and development of DNA zippers and tweezers. Essentially a zipper system consists of a normal strand (N), a weak strand (W), and an opening strand (O). N strand is made up of normal DNA bases, while W is engineered to have inosine substituting for guanine. By altering the number and order of inosine, W is engineered to provide less than natural bonding affinities to N in forming the [N:W] helix. When O is introduced (a natural complement of N), it competitively displaces W from [N:W] and forms [N:O]. This principle is incorporated in the development of a molecular device that can perform the functions of tweezers (sense, hold, and release). Tweezers were constructed by holding N and W together using a hinge at one end. Thus, when the tweezers open, N and W remain in the same vicinity. This allows the tweezers to cycle among open and close positions by their opening and closing strands. Control over their opening and closing kinetics is demonstrated. In contrast to the previously reported DNA tweezers, the zipper mechanism makes it possible to operate them with opening strands that do not contain single-stranded DNA overhangs. Our approach yields a robust, compact, and regenerative tweezer system that could potentially be integrated into complex nanomachines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, United States.
authors.forename: Preston B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Landon
authors.forename: Srinivasan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramachandran
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gillman
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gidron
authors.forename: Dosuk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Ratnesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lal
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D004247:DNA