title: Controlled nucleation and growth of DNA tile arrays within prescribed DNA origami frames and their dynamics.
abstract: Controlled nucleation of nanoscale building blocks by geometrically defined seeds implanted in DNA nanoscaffolds represents a unique strategy to study and understand the dynamic processes of molecular self-assembly. Here we utilize a two-dimensional DNA origami frame with a hollow interior and selectively positioned DNA hybridization seeds to control the self-assembly of DNA tile building blocks, where the small DNA tiles are directed to fill the interior of the frame through prescribed sticky end interactions. This design facilitates the construction of DNA origami/array hybrids that adopt the overall shape and dimensions of the origami frame, forming a 2D array in the core consisting of a large number of simple repeating DNA tiles. The formation of the origami/array hybrid was characterized with atomic force microscopy, and the nucleation dynamics were monitored by serial AFM scanning and fluorescence spectroscopy, which revealed faster kinetics of growth within the frame as compared to growth without the presence of a frame. Our study provides insight into the fundamental behavior of DNA-based self-assembling systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Center for Molecular Design and Biomimicry, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University , Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Shuoxing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000737:chemistry; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D004247:DNA