Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, doi: 10.1002/anie.201706680

Helmig, S., Gothelf, K. V.

Aarhus University, Centre for DNA Nanotechnology at the Dept. of Chemsitry and iNANO, Aarhus, DENMARK

Abstract

Signal transfer is central to the controlled exchange of information in biology and advanced technologies. Therefore, the development of reliable, long-ranging signal transfer systems for artificial nanoscale assemblies is of great scientific interest. We have designed such a system for signal transfer between two connected DNA nanostructures, using the hybridization chain reaction (HCR). Two sets of metastable DNA hairpins – of which one is immobilized in specific points along tracks on DNA origami structures – are polymerized to form a continuous DNA duplex, which is visible using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Upon addition of a designed initiator, the initiation signal is efficiently transferred >200 nm from a specific location on one origami structure to an end point on another origami structure. The system shows no significant loss of signal when crossing from one nanostructure to another, and therefore has the potential to be applied to larger multi-component DNA assemblies