Designed 3D DNA Crystals.

Abstract

The simplest practical route to producing precisely designed 3D macroscopic objects is to form a crystalline arrangement by self-assembly, because such a periodic array has only conceptually simple requirements: a motif that has a robust 3D structure, dominant affinity interactions between parts of the motif when it self-associates, and predictable structures for these affinity interactions. Fulfilling these three criteria to produce a 3D periodic system is not easy, but should readily be achieved with well-structured branched DNA motifs tailed by sticky ends (Zheng et al., Nature 461:74-77, 2009). Herein, a brief introduction to designed 3D DNA crystals from tensegrity triangle is presented.