Selective release of DNA nanostructures from DNA hydrogel

Abstract

From simple 2-dimensional (2D) structures to highly complex 3-dimensional (3D) structures, DNA is widely used as a building block material. Despite this advancement, mass production of DNA nanostructures was a challenge due to the high cost that accompanies the preparation of diverse DNA strands. Rolling circle amplification (RCA) is one of the cost-effective methods for the mass production of repetitive DNA structures without using an expensive laboratory thermal cycler. Here, we report a DNA hydrogel containing various single-stranded DNA nanostructures (Y, X, Tetrahedron) in a one-pot system, prepared by RCA, and their selective separation with various restriction enzymes. Each DNA nanostructure in the DNA hydrogel contained distinctive restriction sites that were responsive to different kinds of restriction enzymes, achieving selective separation of Y-, X- and Tetrahedron-shaped DNA structures. This study has the potential to contribute towards DNA-based biomedical applications by employing mass production and precisely controlled release of DNA nanostructures.