Direct Visualization of Transient Thermal Response of a DNA Origami

Jie Song†‡, Jean-Michel Arbona§, Zhao Zhang†∥, Lei Liu†, Erqing Xie‡, Juan Elezgaray§, Jean-Pierre Aime§, Kurt Vesterager Gothelf†∥, Flemming Besenbacher*†, and Mingdong Dong*†

^† Centre for DNA Nanotechnology (CDNA) at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

^‡ School of Physical Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of China

^§ CBMN, UMR 5248, CNRS, 2 rue R. Escarpit, 33600 Pessac, France

^∥ Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 134 (24), pp 9844–9847

DOI: 10.1021/ja3017939

Publication Date (Web): May 30, 2012

fbe@inano.au.dk; dong@inano.au.dk

Cite this:J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134, 24, 9844-9847

Abstract

The DNA origami approach enables the construction of complex objects from DNA strands. A fundamental understanding of the kinetics and thermodynamics of DNA origami assembly is extremely important for building large DNA structures with multifunctionality. Here both experimental and theoretical studies of DNA origami melting were carried out in order to reveal the reversible association/disassociation process. Furthermore, by careful control of the temperature cycling via in situ thermally controlled atomic force microscopy, the self-assembly process of a rectangular DNA origami tile was directly visualized, unveiling key mechanisms underlying their structural and thermodynamic features.

Materials and experimental methods, sequence of the rectangle DNA origami, additional AFM images and height cartograms, discussion of the G–C content, and a video file (AVI). This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

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