Assembly of Dynamic Supramolecular Polymers on a DNA Origami Platform

Recent Advances in DNA Origami-Engineered Nanomaterials and Applications

DNA nanotechnology is a unique field, where physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, engineering, and materials science can elegantly converge. Since the original proposal of Nadrian Seeman, significant advances have been achieved in the past four decades. During this glory time, the DNA origami technique developed by Paul Rothemund further pushed the field forward with a vigorous momentum, fostering a plethora of concepts, models, methodologies, and applications that were not thought of before. This review focuses on the recent progress in DNA origami-engineered nanomaterials in the past five years, outlining the exciting achievements as well as the unexplored research avenues. We believe that the spirit and assets that Seeman left for scientists will continue to bring interdisciplinary innovations and useful applications to this field in the next decade.

Physically and Chemically Stable Anion Exchange Membranes with Hydrogen-Bond Induced Ion Conducting Channels

Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with desirable properties are the crucial components for numerous energy devices such as AEM fuel cells (AEMFCs), AEM water electrolyzers (AEMWEs), etc. However, the lack of suitable AEMs severely limits the performance of devices. Here, a series of physically and chemically stable AEMs have been prepared by the reaction between the alkyl bromine terminal ether-bond-free aryl backbone and the urea group-containing crosslinker. Morphology analyses confirm that the hydrogen bonding interaction between urea groups is capable of driving the ammonium cations to aggregate and further form continuous ion-conducting channels. Therefore, the resultant AEM demonstrates remarkable OH− conductivity (59.1 mS cm−1 at 30 °C and 122.9 mS cm−1 at 90 °C) despite a moderate IEC (1.77 mmol g−1). Simultaneously, due to the adoption of ether-bond-free aryl backbone and alkylene chain-modified trimethylammonium cation, the AEM possesses excellent alkaline stability (87.3% IEC retention after soaking in 1 M NaOH for 1080 h). Moreover, the prepared AEM shows desirable mechanical properties (tensile stress > 25 MPa) and dimensional stability (SR = 20.3% at 90 °C) contributed by the covalent-bond and hydrogen-bond crosslinking network structures. Moreover, the resulting AEM reaches a peak power density of 555 mW cm−2 in an alkaline H2/O2 single fuel cell at 70 °C without back pressure. This rational structural design presented here provides inspiration for the development of high-performance AEMs, which are crucial for membrane technologies.

Nanoscale patterning of polymers on DNA origami

The combination of DNA-origami and synthetic polymers paves the way to a new class of structurally precise biohybrid nanomaterials for diverse applications. Herein, we introduce the grafting to method with high conversions (70-90%) under ambient conditions to generate DNA-polymer conjugates, which can hybridized precisely to DNA-origami architectures. We generated homo and block copolymers from three different polymer families (acrylates, methacrylates and acrylamides), coupled them to single stranded DNA (ssDNA) and pattern different DNA-origami architectures to demonstrate the formation of precise surface nanopatterns.

Tetraphenylethylene-DNA conjugates: influence of sticky ends and DNA sequence length on the supramolecular assembly of AIE-active vesicles

The supramolecular assembly of DNA conjugates, functionalized with tetraphenylethylene (TPE) sticky ends, into vesicular structures is described. The aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active TPE units allow monitoring the assembly process by fluorescence spectroscopy. The number of TPE modifications in the overhangs of the conjugates influences the supramolecular assembly behavior. A minimum of two TPE residues on each end are required to ensure a well-defined assembly process. The design of the presented DNA-based nanostructures offers tailored functionalization with applications in DNA nanotechnology.

The supramolecular assembly of tetraphenylethylene (TPE)–DNA conjugates is presented. The length of the TPE sticky ends exerts a pronounced effect on the formation of aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active vesicles.

Complex DNA Architectonics─Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Oligonucleotides into Ribbons, Vesicles, and Asterosomes

The precise arrangement of structural subunits is a key factor for the proper shape and function of natural and artificial supramolecular assemblies. In DNA nanotechnology, the geometrically well-defined double-stranded DNA scaffold serves as an element of spatial control for the precise arrangement of functional groups. Here, we describe the supramolecular assembly of chemically modified DNA hybrids into diverse types of architectures. An amphiphilic DNA duplex serves as the sole structural building element of the nanosized supramolecular structures. The morphology of the assemblies is governed by a single subunit of the building block. The chemical nature of this subunit, i.e., polyethylene glycols of different chain length or a carbohydrate moiety, exerts a dramatic influence on the architecture of the assemblies. Cryo-electron microscopy revealed the arrangement of the individual DNA duplexes within the different constructs. Thus, the morphology changes from vesicles to ribbons with increasing length of a linear polyethylene glycol. Astoundingly, attachment of a N-acetylgalactosamine carbohydrate to the DNA duplex moiety produces an unprecedented type of star-shaped architecture. The novel DNA architectures presented herein imply an extension of the current concept of DNA materials and shed new light on the fast-growing field of DNA nanotechnology.

Programmed Assembly of DNA Templates by Silver Nanowires

DNA origami templates are known to exhibit many advantages to integrate functional components at desirable locations for nanoelectronic applications. In order to immobilize conducting or semiconducting species in a bottom-up approach, the programmed assembly of DNA templates is of utmost necessity. This report demonstrates the silver nanowires enabled bridging of two linear DNA origami (DO) nanostructures by utilizing the host-guest interaction of biotin-STV and sequence-specific silver metallization of poly(dG-dC) DNA nanowires (in 10 % yield) using (dA)₁₀ coated AgNPs (15 nm). The enzymatic synthesis of 750 bp, 1500 bp and 3000 bp bis-biotinylated poly(dG-dC), facile synthesis of 1 : 1 biotin-STV and silver-nanowire bridged DNA templates were characterized by gel electrophoresis, atomic force microscope imaging techniques. The strategy utilized here provides a method that can precisely connect heterogeneous templates towards bottom-up fabrication of practical nanoelectronics.