Programming colloidal bonding using DNA strand-displacement circuitry

Abstract

As a strategy for regulating entropy, thermal annealing is a commonly adopted approach for controlling dynamic pathways in colloid assembly. By coupling DNA strand-displacement circuits with DNA-functionalized colloid assembly, we developed an enthalpy-mediated strategy for achieving the same goal while working at a constant temperature. Using this tractable approach allows colloidal bonding to be programmed for synchronization with colloid assembly, thereby realizing the optimal programmability of DNA-functionalized colloids. We applied this strategy to conditionally activate colloid assembly and dynamically switch colloid identities by reconfiguring DNA molecular architectures, thereby achieving orderly structural transformations; leveraging the advantage of room-temperature assembly, we used this method to prepare a lattice of temperature-sensitive proteins and gold nanoparticles. This approach bridges two subfields: dynamic DNA nanotechnology and DNA-functionalized colloid programming.

pH-Controlled Detachable DNA Circuitry and Its Application in Resettable Self-Assembly of Spherical Nucleic Acids

“…in the mid-1990s . To date, SNAs have been widely employed in colloidal superlattice structures, − microRNA imaging, , colorimetric biosensors, − programmable and logical assembly nanostructures, ,− drug delivery, , and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discrimination. , …”

Nanoparticle Superlattices through Template-Encoded DNA Dendrimers

“…The elegance of this roomtemperature, isothermal phase symmetry reconfiguration is the simplicity of its operation and design, without having to use instruments for thermal processing, 44−47 or having to design complex DNA circuitry. 48 The crystal structure reconfiguration is not limited to two structures only. By introducing a new template (e.g., T8) after a previously added template (e.g., T2) has been deactivated by the action of the block strand, we successfully traversed between an FCC, an SH, and an SC lattice in one pot (Figure S14).…”

“…We further took advantage of the inherent diffusivity of low-valent templates (e.g., T2) and the resulting DNA dendrimers (Figure S4) to switch crystal structures through two full cycles without having to heat or slow-cool the samples (Figure d). The elegance of this room-temperature, isothermal phase symmetry reconfiguration is the simplicity of its operation and design, without having to use instruments for thermal processing, − or having to design complex DNA circuitry …”

Information processing based on DNA toehold-mediated strand displacement (TMSD) reaction

“…Then, Zhou et al 66 applied the entropy-driven amplifier circuit for the construction of a colloid assembly known as "programmable atom equivalents" (PAE), as shown in Fig. 7B.…”