# Dynamic Control of DNA Origami Self-Assembly by Transcriptional Modules

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to control DNA origami self-assembly using transcriptional modules, enabling dynamic and life-like behaviors in synthetic materials.

## Contribution

A novel strategy for dynamic DNA origami self-assembly using transcriptional modules and dissipative feedback loops is introduced.

## Key findings

- A bistable system is created using mutually inhibitory tile pairs, switchable with RNA inducers.
- Simulations predict complex nonequilibrium behaviors like oscillations and pulses.
- The method enables continuous energy-driven dynamic control of DNA origami.

## Abstract

Biological cells achieve adaptive and responsive behaviors
by dynamically
regulating self-assembly through sensing, processing, and transmitting
environmental information. Emulating this is key to engineering dynamic
synthetic materials with life-like functions. In most existing dynamic
self-assembly systems, the responses are achieved by changes in the
free energy landscape induced by external inputs (such as molecules,
light, or pH) that push the system toward a new stable thermodynamic
equilibrium. In contrast, achieving the sustained and complex processes
characteristic of living systems requires a nonequilibrium approach
involving continuous energy dissipation. Here, we present a new strategy
for dynamic control of DNA origami tile self-assembly by directly
coupling a transcriptional module’s activity to the tiles’
assembly state. Transcription is triggered only upon tile dimerization,
which brings the module components into close proximity. The resulting
RNA blocker strands then disassemble into dimers via strand displacement,
establishing a dissipative, autonomous feedback loop. We demonstrated
that integrating two mutually inhibitory tile pairs constructs a bistable
system whose state can be switched by using RNA inducers or upstream
transcriptional circuits. Simulations of larger networks further predict
complex, nonequilibrium temporal behaviors (including sustained oscillations
and pulses) that are maintained only through continuous energy consumption.
This work presents a generalizable strategy for dynamic control of
DNA origami tile self-assembly via transcriptional modules, paving
the way for applications in nanorobotics, biosensing, biomedicine,
and artificial life systems.