Multidimensional Honeycomb-like DNA Nanostructures Made of C-Motifs

Abstract

Thanks to its remarkable properties of self-assembly and molecular recognition, DNA can be used in the construction of various dimensional nanostructures to serve as templates for decorating nanomaterials with nanometer-scale precision. Accordingly, this study discusses a design strategy for fabricating such multidimensional DNA nanostructures made of simple C-motifs. One-dimensional (1D) honeycomb-like tubes (1HTs) and two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb-like lattices (2HLs) were constructed using a C-motif with an arm length of 14 nucleotides (nt) at an angle of 240° along the counterclockwise direction. We designed and fabricated four different types of 1HTs and three different 2HLs. The study used atomic force microscopy to characterize the distinct topologies of the 1D and 2D DNA nanostructures (i.e., 1HTs and 2HLs, respectively). The width deviation of the 1HTs and height suppression percentage of the 2HLs were calculated and discussed. Our study can be provided to construct various dimensional DNA nanostructures easily with high efficiency.