Organizing materials with DNA articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Three-dimensional DNA origami constructs can be used to deliver vaccine antigens in a multi-valent form. Here the authors design a DNA origami system for SARS-CoV-2 proteins and characterize in mice the immune response and protective capacity of generated antibodies, finding that the construct itself is not immunogenic.

    • Eike-Christian Wamhoff
    • , Larance Ronsard
    •  & Mark Bathe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Concentration polarization electroosmosis (CPEO) has recently been found to produce similar flow patterns around spheres in an AC electric field as induced charge electroosmosis. Katzmeier and Simmel study the flow around the asymmetric particle dimers caused by CPEO and design a microrobot that can be steered with a joystick and facilitates the transport of cargo particles.

    • Florian Katzmeier
    •  & Friedrich C. Simmel

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    The commercialization of DNA tagging is a growing trend that demonstrates the increasing practicality of this novel approach. This interdisciplinary technology is based on the distinctive characteristics of DNA as a molecule that can remain stable in varying environmental conditions and store data following appropriate preparation. Moreover, newly developed technologies could simplify DNA synthesis and the encoding of data within DNA. The implementation of DNA tagging presents distinctive benefits in comparison to conventional labelling techniques, including universal product code (UPC) barcoding, radio-frequency identification (RFID), quick response (QR) codes, and Bluetooth technologies, by surmounting the limitations encountered by these systems. The discourse pertains to extant DNA-tagging mechanisms along with prospective implementations in a wide range of domains, including but not limited to art, the metaverse, forensics, wildlife monitoring, and the military. The potential of DNA labelling in various contexts underscores the importance of continued research and development in this rapidly evolving field.

    • Adam Kuzdraliński
    • , Marek Miśkiewicz
    •  & Bogdan Księżopolski

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Resolving the stoichiometry of membrane protein interactions is challenging but is vital to understand cell signalling. Using lipid-bound DNA receptors as a model for membrane proteins, the authors present a platform to achieve stoichiometric, spatial and temporal control over their interactions.

    • Vishal Maingi
    • , Zhao Zhang
    •  & Paul W. K. Rothemund

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Programming the 3D spatial organization of quantum dots requires precise control over their individual valence, but this is challenging due to the possible presence of multiple binding sites. Here, authors develop a general approach that uses highly programmable wireframe DNA origami structures to control the 3D spatial relationships between QDs and other non-nucleic-acid molecules.

    • Chi Chen
    • , Xingfei Wei
    •  & Mark Bathe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    DNA nanofabrication techniques have huge potential for the patterning of electronic materials and devices but suffer from defects which become more significant at lower scales. Here, the authors report on a study into the causes of line defects and develop criteria for reducing defects demonstrating this technique.

    • Yahong Chen
    • , Chaoyong Yang
    •  & Wei Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A quantitative prediction of DNA-mediated interactions between colloids is crucial to the design of colloidal structures for optical applications. Cui et al. measure the interaction potential with nanometer resolution and propose a theory to accurately predict adhesion and melting at a molecular level.

    • Fan Cui
    • , Sophie Marbach
    •  & David J. Pine

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lipid membrane disruption is often associated with disease but is also essential to a range of biosensing and therapeutic techniques. Here, the authors report on the development of DNA-based particles that, upon exposure to an external cue, can aggregate, disrupt lipid membranes, and arrest the motion of bacteria.

    • Michal Walczak
    • , Ryan A. Brady
    •  & Lorenzo Di Michele

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organising proteins in 2D and 3D is needed to develop complex bimolecular materials for a range of applications. Here, the authors report the encapsulation of ferritin and apoferritin in DNA-based voxels with programmed assembly to generate both 2D and 3D protein lattices and demonstrate the retention of protein function.

    • Shih-Ting Wang
    • , Brian Minevich
    •  & Oleg Gang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors experimentally demonstrate chiral transfer over large distances up to 100 nm. They realise the coupling with an achiral nanosphere situated between a pair of distant gold nanorods arranged in a chiral fashion using DNA origami, and observe enhanced circular dichroism signals.

    • Kevin Martens
    • , Felix Binkowski
    •  & Tim Liedl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fabrication of superconducting 3D nanoarchitectures, using standard nanofabrication methods, is challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate the fabrication of a nanostructured 3D superconducting array of Josephson junctions, exploiting self-assembled DNA origami lattices as a template.

    • Lior Shani
    • , Aaron N. Michelson
    •  & Oleg Gang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding antibody-antigen interactions is important to deepen the understanding of immunology. Here, the authors report on the application of DNA origami structures for the controlled presentation of antigens to study antibody binding behaviours at room temperature.

    • Ping Zhang
    • , Xiaoguo Liu
    •  & Chunhai Fan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Colloidal crystals assembled from nanoscale building blocks are powerful designer materials with diverse functionalities. Here, the authors describe a colloidal crystal engineering strategy to prepare hierarchical structures from metal–organic framework nanoparticles and DNA which retain permanent porosity and catalytic activity.

    • Shunzhi Wang
    • , Sarah S. Park
    •  & Chad A. Mirkin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Assembling nanoparticles into precise architectures by controlling their positions in three-dimensional space is a major challenge in nanoscience. Here, the authors construct complex, preprogrammed clusters of DNA-encoded nanoparticles by coordinating them onto a DNA mesh wireframe.

    • Sha Sun
    • , Shize Yang
    •  & Oleg Gang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scaffolded DNA origami by folding single-stranded DNA into three-dimensional nanostructures holds promise for building functional nanomachines, yet their dynamic structures remain largely unknown. Here, Lei et al. address this issue using individual-particle electron tomography at 6–14 nm resolution.

    • Dongsheng Lei
    • , Alexander E. Marras
    •  & Gang Ren

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-propelled molecular entities enable studying swarm behavior on a macroscopic scale but programmability of interactions has yet not been achieved. Here the authors show reversible regulation of DNA-functionalized microtubules by DNA signals and switching between solitary and swarm behaviour by employing photoresponsive DNA strands.

    • Jakia Jannat Keya
    • , Ryuhei Suzuki
    •  & Akira Kakugo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bottom-up synthesis of colloidal metallic nanomaterials with a designable structure is challenging. Here, the authors report the directed crystallisation of gold by a single DNA molecular regulator, using it to synthesise gold nanocrystals with defined complex morphologies.

    • Xingyi Ma
    • , June Huh
    •  & Sang Jun Sim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Controlling self-assembly of nanoparticles into superlattices is an important approach to build functional materials. Here, Lu et al. use directional binding provided by DNA-encoded polyhedral blocks—cubes or octahedrons—to guide spherical nanoparticles into clusters and three-dimensional lattices.

    • Fang Lu
    • , Kevin G. Yager
    •  & Oleg Gang

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