Fluorous-Directed Assembly of DNA Origami Nanostructures
Jiajia Zou, Ashley C. Stammers, Andrea Taladriz‐Sender, Jamie M. Withers, Iain Christie, Marina Santana Vega, Badri L. Aekbote, William J. Peveler, David A. Rusling, Glenn A. Burley, Alasdair W. Clark
Abstract
An orthogonal, noncovalent approach to direct the assembly of higher-order DNA origami nanostructures is described. By incorporating perfluorinated tags into the edges of DNA origami tiles we control their hierarchical assembly via fluorous-directed recognition. When we combine this approach with Watson-Crick base-pairing we form discrete dimeric constructs in significantly higher yield (8x) than when either molecular recognition method is used in isolation. This integrated "catch-and-latch" approach, which combines the strength and mobility of the fluorous effect with the specificity of base-pairing, provides an additional toolset for DNA nanotechnology, one that enables increased assembly efficiency while requiring significantly fewer DNA sequences. As a result, our integration of fluorous-directed assembly into origami systems represents a cheap, atom-efficient means to produce discrete superstructures.