DNA Tetrahedron Framework Guided Conjugation and Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles

Abstract

Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been extensively used to assemble programmable structures that feature various functions. One central challenge of precisely directed assembly is to make valence‐programmable building blocks. Herein, we use the DNA tetrahedron framework to stoichiometrically conjugate to Au nanoparticles, which results in monovalent building blocks at nanometer scale. We further fabricated high‐order Au‐tetrahedron structures to verify the ability of the blocks for building assemblies. These structures represent an exploration of an avenue to monovalent AuNPs, and provide the feasibility of precisely manipulating nanoparticles into prescribed assemblies.

DNA-Based Gold Nanoparticle Assemblies: From Structure Constructions to Sensing Applications

“…In addition to individual DNA tile nanostructures, high-order assemblies of multiple DNA tile structures have also been used to guide the formation of Au NP multimers. He et al used a DNA tetrahedron with a thiol-anchor constructed by four DNA single strands stoichiometrically conjugated with AuNPs, resulting in monovalent AuNPs [35]. Furthermore, monovalent AuNPs were used as building blocks to construct a specified number of high-order AuNP clusters through assembly (Figure 2b).…”

“…Reprinted with permission from ref. [35]. (c) DNA tetrahedron-based core-satellite structures as SERS molecular rulers to detect conformational changes triggered by Hg 2+ .…”

“…(b) DNA tetrahedral conjugated AuNPs as building blocks to form specific AuNP clusters. Reprinted with permission from ref [35]…”