Symmetry Controls the Face Geometry of DNA Polyhedra

摘要

This Communication reports complementary strategies to control the face geometry during the self-assembly of DNA polyhedra from branched DNA nanomotifs (tiles). In these approaches, the final DNA polyhedra contain two types of DNA tiles. They are different by either sequence or orientation in the final structures. DNA tiles can associate with each other between the two types of different tiles, but not with the same type of tiles. Thus, each face must contain an even number of tiles. As a demonstration, DNA cubes, whose faces are squares that contain four tiles, have been assembled through these approaches. The cube structures have been confirmed by multiple techniques including polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), dynamic light scattering (DLS), cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) imaging, and single particle three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction.