Silver-mediated base pairings: towards dynamic DNA nanostructures with enhanced chemical and thermal stability
The thermal and chemical fragility of DNA nanomaterials assembled by Watson–Crick (WC) pairing constrain the settings in which these materials can be used and how they can be functionalized. Here we investigate use of the silver cation, Ag ^+ , as an agent for more robust, metal-mediated self-assemb...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2016-01-01
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Series: | New Journal of Physics |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/4/045008 |
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author | Steven M Swasey Elisabeth G Gwinn |
author_facet | Steven M Swasey Elisabeth G Gwinn |
author_sort | Steven M Swasey |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The thermal and chemical fragility of DNA nanomaterials assembled by Watson–Crick (WC) pairing constrain the settings in which these materials can be used and how they can be functionalized. Here we investigate use of the silver cation, Ag ^+ , as an agent for more robust, metal-mediated self-assembly, focusing on the simplest duplex building blocks that would be required for more elaborate Ag ^+ –DNA nanostructures. Our studies of Ag ^+ -induced assembly of non-complementary DNA oligomers employ strands of 2–24 bases, with varied base compositions, and use electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to determine product compositions. High yields of duplex products containing narrowly distributed numbers of Ag ^+ can be achieved by optimizing solution conditions. These Ag ^+ -mediated duplexes are stable to at least 60 mM Mg ^2+ , higher than is necessary for WC nanotechnology schemes such as tile assemblies and DNA origami, indicating that sequential stages of Ag ^+ -mediated and WC-mediated assembly may be feasible. Circular dichroism spectroscopy suggests simple helical structures for Ag ^+ -mediated duplexes with lengths to at least 20 base pairs, and further indicates that the structure of cytosine-rich duplexes is preserved at high urea concentrations. We therefore propose an approach towards dynamic DNA nanomaterials with enhanced thermal and chemical stability through designs that combine sturdy silver-mediated ‘frames’ with WC paired ‘pictures’. |
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id | doaj.art-b364c344896b4558bfc5ec5c943b99d6 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1367-2630 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:40:46Z |
publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
publisher | IOP Publishing |
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series | New Journal of Physics |
spelling | doaj.art-b364c344896b4558bfc5ec5c943b99d62023-08-08T14:31:20ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302016-01-0118404500810.1088/1367-2630/18/4/045008Silver-mediated base pairings: towards dynamic DNA nanostructures with enhanced chemical and thermal stabilitySteven M Swasey0Elisabeth G Gwinn1Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93016, USAPhysics Department, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93016, USAThe thermal and chemical fragility of DNA nanomaterials assembled by Watson–Crick (WC) pairing constrain the settings in which these materials can be used and how they can be functionalized. Here we investigate use of the silver cation, Ag ^+ , as an agent for more robust, metal-mediated self-assembly, focusing on the simplest duplex building blocks that would be required for more elaborate Ag ^+ –DNA nanostructures. Our studies of Ag ^+ -induced assembly of non-complementary DNA oligomers employ strands of 2–24 bases, with varied base compositions, and use electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to determine product compositions. High yields of duplex products containing narrowly distributed numbers of Ag ^+ can be achieved by optimizing solution conditions. These Ag ^+ -mediated duplexes are stable to at least 60 mM Mg ^2+ , higher than is necessary for WC nanotechnology schemes such as tile assemblies and DNA origami, indicating that sequential stages of Ag ^+ -mediated and WC-mediated assembly may be feasible. Circular dichroism spectroscopy suggests simple helical structures for Ag ^+ -mediated duplexes with lengths to at least 20 base pairs, and further indicates that the structure of cytosine-rich duplexes is preserved at high urea concentrations. We therefore propose an approach towards dynamic DNA nanomaterials with enhanced thermal and chemical stability through designs that combine sturdy silver-mediated ‘frames’ with WC paired ‘pictures’.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/4/045008DNA nanotechnologymetal-mediated base pairssilver cationsself assemblymetal-DNA nanostructures |
spellingShingle | Steven M Swasey Elisabeth G Gwinn Silver-mediated base pairings: towards dynamic DNA nanostructures with enhanced chemical and thermal stability New Journal of Physics DNA nanotechnology metal-mediated base pairs silver cations self assembly metal-DNA nanostructures |
title | Silver-mediated base pairings: towards dynamic DNA nanostructures with enhanced chemical and thermal stability |
title_full | Silver-mediated base pairings: towards dynamic DNA nanostructures with enhanced chemical and thermal stability |
title_fullStr | Silver-mediated base pairings: towards dynamic DNA nanostructures with enhanced chemical and thermal stability |
title_full_unstemmed | Silver-mediated base pairings: towards dynamic DNA nanostructures with enhanced chemical and thermal stability |
title_short | Silver-mediated base pairings: towards dynamic DNA nanostructures with enhanced chemical and thermal stability |
title_sort | silver mediated base pairings towards dynamic dna nanostructures with enhanced chemical and thermal stability |
topic | DNA nanotechnology metal-mediated base pairs silver cations self assembly metal-DNA nanostructures |
url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/4/045008 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT stevenmswasey silvermediatedbasepairingstowardsdynamicdnananostructureswithenhancedchemicalandthermalstability AT elisabethggwinn silvermediatedbasepairingstowardsdynamicdnananostructureswithenhancedchemicalandthermalstability |