Letter

Direct Mechanical Measurements Reveal the Material Properties of Three-Dimensional DNA Origami

Biotechnology Center and DFG-Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, 01062, Germany
Center for Nanoscience and Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539 München, Germany
Nano Lett., 2011, 11 (12), pp 5558–5563
DOI: 10.1021/nl203503s
Publication Date (Web): November 2, 2011
Copyright © 2011 American Chemical Society

Abstract

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The application of three-dimensional DNA origami objects as rigid mechanical mediators or force sensing elements requires detailed knowledge about their complex mechanical properties. Using magnetic tweezers, we directly measure the bending and torsional rigidities of four- and six-helix bundles assembled by this technique. Compared to duplex DNA, we find the bending rigidities to be greatly increased while the torsional rigidities are only moderately augmented. We present a mechanical model explicitly including the crossovers between the individual helices in the origami structure that reproduces the experimentally observed behavior. Our results provide an important basis for the future application of 3D DNA origami in nanomechanics.

Discussion of direct torque measurements with magnetic tweezers and supporting figures. This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

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Received 6 October 2011
Published online 2 November 2011
Published in print 14 December 2011
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