Dielectrophoretic trapping of multilayer DNA origami nanostructures and DNA origami‐induced local destruction of silicon dioxide

Abstract

Electrophoresis 2015, 36, 255–262. DOI: 10.1002/elps.201400323 DNA origami is a widely used method for fabrication of complex and custom-shaped nanostructures. To further utilize these versatile nanoarchitectures, we demonstrate guiding and anchoring of individual DNA origamis on a chip. Different types of 3D multilayer DNA origami structures were trapped and immobilized on gold nanoelectrodes by AC-dielectrophoresis (DEP). Trapping of single brick-like objects is shown in the back-image as well as the implemented electrode geometry. We observed that structural deformations of DNA origamis during the DEP trapping procedure are highly dependent on the shape of the object and the fundamental construction of the origami design. In addition, the electrical conductivity of single unmodified brick-like origami structures immobilized between the nanoelectrodes revealed to be negligible. However, we found out that trapping of the same design equipped with densely-packed thiol-linkers (see up-left inset), tended to induce an etched “nanocanyon” in the SiO2 substrate precisely at the location of the trapped origami (see low right inset). The results demonstrate that the DEP-trapping technique can be exploited in assembling of complex origami geometries. Moreover, DNA origamis could be used in deformation of the substrates onto which they are attached.