Self-assembly and contraction of micron-scale DNA rings

Abstract

Contractile rings formed from cytoskeletal filaments mediate the division of cells. The reverse-engineering of synthetic contractile rings could shed light on fundamental physical principles of the ring self-assembly and dynamics independent of the natural protein-based compounds. Here, we engineer DNA nanotubes and crosslink them with a synthetic peptide-functionalized star-PEG construct. The star-PEG construct induces the formation of DNA nanotube bundles composed of several tens of individual DNA nanotubes. Importantly, the DNA nanotube bundles curve into closed micron-scale DNA rings in a high-yield one-pot self-assembly process resulting in several thousand rings per microliter. The crosslinked DNA rings can undergo contraction to less than half of their initial diameter by two distinct mechanisms, triggered by increasing molecular crowding or temperature. DNA-based contractile rings expand the toolbox of DNA nanotechnology and could be a future element of an artificial division machinery in synthetic cells.

Triggered contraction of self-assembled micron-scale DNA nanotube rings

“…The datasets generated during and analyzed during the current study are available in the repository called "Triggered contraction of selfassembled, micron-scale DNA nanotube rings [Research Data]" on heiDATA/Göpfrich Group -Biophysical Engineering of Life with the identifier https://doi.org/10.11588/data/ADYUNN 45 . Source data are provided with this paper.…”

Engineering DNA-based cytoskeletons for synthetic cells

“…There, DNA condensation exerts forces that drive the growth of the protein–DNA condensate by pulling on non-condensed DNA (figure 6 c ) [79]. Another mechanism that does not rely on DNA origami is the formation and contraction of DNA rings via synthetic peptides [89]. In this work, DNA-binding peptides induce the crosslinking and sliding of DNA nanotubes along one another to induce ring contraction.…”