DNA Origami Catenanes Templated by Gold Nanoparticles

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the hierarchical assembly of DNA origami catenanes templated by gold nanoparticles, creating interlocked rings with potential for programmable DNA-based molecular architectures.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for assembling DNA origami catenanes using gold nanoparticles as templates, expanding the toolkit for topological DNA nanostructures.

Findings

Successfully created DNA origami catenanes with 2, 3, and 4 interlocked rings.

Demonstrated the ability to release individual rings by removing gold nanoparticle templates.

Established a foundation for designing complex DNA-based topological nanostructures.

Abstract

Mechanically interlocked molecules have marked a breakthrough in the field of topological chemistry and boosted the vigorous development of molecular machinery. As an archetypal example of the interlocked molecules, catenanes comprise macrocycles that are threaded through one another like links in a chain. Inspired by the transition metal-templated approach of catenanes synthesis, the hierarchical assembly of DNA origami catenanes templated by gold nanoparticles is demonstrated in this work. DNA origami catenanes, which contain two, three or four interlocked rings are successfully created. In particular, the origami rings within the individual catenanes can be set free with respect to one another by releasing the interconnecting gold nanoparticles. This work will set the basis for rich progress toward DNA-based molecular architectures with unique structural programmability and well-defined topology.