Professor Dr. Friedrich Simmel, Technical University of Munich, Germany

Super-assemblies, compartments, and machines made from DNA origami

DNA origami enables the sequence-programmable generation of precisely defined molecular nanostructures with almost arbitrary shapes and with sizes typically on the order 100nm. Recently, there has been an increased interest in connecting building blocks made from DNA origami into larger super-assemblies. Here, we demonstrate that highly symmetric origami subunits designed as “sticky discs” with flexible linkers can be programmably organized into giant lipid membrane-like assemblies that reach sizes of eukaryotic cells. Depending on the choice of the connections to the neighbors, the super-assemblies can be either programmed to realize flat membrames, hollow tubes, as well as closed spherical and non-spherical compartments. The resulting compartments a porous and thus enable the facile exchange of small molecules, which is potentially useful for the realization of cell-scale reaction containers. 

In the final part of the talk, we will briefly talk about machine-like DNA assemblies that are driven by the application of external fields. We will discuss the transition from Brownian motor-like movement of DNA nanodevices to “deterministic” movement as well as the realization of mechanically bistable systems.