Aleksander Czogalla, PhD, DSc, Department of Cytobiochemistry, University of Wroclaw, Poland

Origami DNA nanostructures as tools to study membrane-related biological events

Most recently, origami DNA approach provided a variety of tools to study biological systems. This technique enables folding of long strands of DNA into nanostructures of defined shape and introduce chemically or structurally functional groups with nanometer precision. We employed origami DNA to construct amphipathic molecules that spontaneously bind to lipid membranes via cholesteryl anchors. We have constructed a set of amphipathic DNA nanostructures of various shapes and functionalities to mimic membrane-related biological events and to determine some features that could be characteristic for such molecules.

Our toolbox include DNA origami nanoneedles that enabled us to study their partitioning in phase-separated lipid bilayers and to obtain detailed description of rotational and translational diffusion and isotropic-nematic transition of these molecules on the surface of lipid membranes. We also built membrane-anchored hexagonal DNA origami box that can be opened in a controllable way, which could create signal-driven tethering system potentially useful in spatial organization and regulation of membrane-embedded compartments. Another nanostructure, DNA origami monoliths decorated with sticky oligonucleotides at their lateral sites, appeared to be able to scaffold and deform lipid membrane vesicles.

All these features are considered as critical in vesicle biogenesis within living cells, the process which is initiated by membrane deformation events controlled by proteins, such as those belonging to BAR superfamily. Our synthetic biology-inspired approach provide insight into yet unattainable aspects of binding, diffusion and oligomerization of molecules at the surface of biological membranes.

Host: Director & Professor Jørgen Kjems, Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center & Dept. of Molecular Biology and Genetics, AU