Synthetic DNA filaments: from design to applications.

Abstract

Natural filaments, such as microtubules and actin filaments, are fundamental components of the cell. Despite their relatively simple linear structure, filaments play a number of crucial roles in living organisms, from scaffolding to cellular adhesion and motility. The mechanical properties of natural filaments mostly rely on the structural features of the component units and on the way they are connected together, thus providing an ideal molecular model for emulation purposes. In this review, we describe the progresses done in this field using DNA for the rational design of synthetic filamentous-like materials with tailored structural and physical characteristics. We firstly survey the strategies that have been adopted until now for the construction of individual DNA building components and their programmable self-assembly into linear oligomeric structures. We then describe the theoretical models of polymer elasticity applied to calculate the bending strength of DNA filaments, expressed in terms of persistence length. Finally, we report some of the most exciting examples of truly biomimetic DNA filaments, which are capable of mimicking not only the sophisticated structural features of their natural counterparts but also their responsiveness to external stimuli, thus resulting in active motion and growing networks between distant loci.