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Start of funding 01.07.2010

Functionalization of DNA origami structures

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We are interested in engineering functional DNA devices using the DNA origami method. Those devices will enable a powerful new approach to the development of tools for cellular and molecular biology studies. In particular we are interested in a better mechanical understanding of the transport of objects from the exterior of the cell to the endosome or the cytosol which is likely to accelerate the development of concerted drug delivery techniques. We are therefore working on artificially encapsulated mechanotransducers that can be targeted to the endocytic pathway and report on the mechanical stresses throughout the cellular system. For optimum optical readout we intent to use fluorescent DNA-silver clusters that can be precisely positioned on DNA origami structures.

Final report:
Our collaborative project, “Functionalization of DNA Origami Structures”, was funded by BaCaTec in 2010 and 2011. The main goals were to develop strategies for binding functional elements to DNA assemblies and to gain a more detailed understanding of the mechanical properties of DNA nanostructures.

We measured the persistence length of DNA nanotubes of defined circumference by analyzing the shape of their thermally fluctuating contours using time resolved fluorescence microscopy. We found persistence length is well described by a simple mechanical model in which each DNA duplex is treated as an elastic cylinder and the cylinders are not close-packed in circumference.

We developed a method to bind gold nanoparticles (AuNP) to specific sites on DNA nanotubes. We used transmission electron microscopy to determine the position of the AuNP with respect to the nanotube axis and estimate the twist rigidity of the nanotubes. This approach revealed that twisting rigidity is much smaller than bending rigidity, which can be explained by flexibility of the links between cylinders (single-stranded cross-overs) in our mechanical model.

The results of our studies were recently published in ACS Nano:

Schiffels, D., Liedl, T., Fygenson, D.K. (2013). Nanoscale Structure and Microscale Stiffness of DNA Nanotubes

This project has greatly benefited from the complementary research backgrounds and facilities of the involved researchers at LMU and UCSB. Connections that resulted from this collaboration have also helped catalyze a Wolfgang-Hillen-Summer-School and a graduate student exchange within the Junior Nanotech Network (JNN) between both institutions.