title: A single-stranded architecture for cotranscriptional folding of RNA nanostructures
abstract: Artificial DNA and RNA structures have been used as scaffolds for a variety of nanoscale devices. In comparison to DNA structures, RNA structures have been limited in size, but they also have advantages: RNA can fold during transcription and thus can be genetically encoded and expressed in cells. We introduce an architecture for designing artificial RNA structures that fold from a single strand, in which arrays of antiparallel RNA helices are precisely organized by RNA tertiary motifs and a new type of crossover pattern. We constructed RNA tiles that assemble into hexagonal lattices and demonstrated that lattices can be made by annealing and/or cotranscriptional folding. Tiles can be scaled up to 660 nucleotides in length, reaching a size comparable to that of large natural ribozymes.
authors.affiliation: Center for DNA Nanotechnology, Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center, and Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Cody
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Geary
authors.affiliation: Bioengineering, Computer Science, and Computation and Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Paul W K
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Rothemund
authors.affiliation: Center for DNA Nanotechnology, Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center, and Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark. esa@inano.au.dk.
authors.forename: Ebbe S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Andersen
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism; D049329:Nanostructures; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D012984:Software; D013698:Templates, Genetic; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA; C062210:bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases