DNA Walking Devices

Abstract

Since the concept of structural DNA nanotechnology was laid out early in 1980s, followed by the fundamental steps in programming and engineering DNA nanostructures and later the invention of the DNA origami technique, the field of structural DNA nanotechnology has undergone tremendous development. Taking advantage of the sequence specificity and the resulting spatial addressability of DNA nanostructures, many DNA nanoarchitectures have been used for the organization of heteroelements such as proteins and nanoparticles and for the functionalization to mimic dynamic devices such as scissors and gears. Among these structures, DNA walking devices were the most complicated ones that could combine numbers of functions to realize the signal transduction. In this chapter, we would focus on the discussion of the walking style and the trigger and the functions of these differential DNA walking devices.