How Small DNA Minicircles Can Be Applied to Construct DNA Nanotubes?

Abstract

AbstractDNA as a life's information carrier can be modified into geometrically fine nanostructures via self‐assembly of designed nucleotides with specified length. In this work, three DNA minicircles with designed lengths of 48‐nt, 50‐nt, and 52‐nt, are directed to self‐assemble into nanotubes after hybridization with staple strands, following the folding strategy with each double crossover (DX) at 2.5 turns. Much smaller DNA minicircles such as the 32‐nt ring are highly rigid once they form double helices, therefore they lack the flexibility to form finely ordered nanotubes. In the case of nanotubes comprising of 52‐nt minicircles, most nanotubes were 800 nm long and 20% were up to 2 μm, whereas the nanotubes composed of 50 base pair subunits and 48 base pair subunits with the DX at frustrated 2.5 turns showed relatively shorter nanotubes at 700 and 600 (or 500) nm, respectively.