Temporal control of i-motif switch lifetimes for autonomous operation of transient DNA nanostructures.

ABSTRACT: Functional DNA nanotechnology creates increasingly complex behaviors useful for sensing, actuation or computation, as enabled via the integration of dynamic and responsive structural DNA motifs. However, temporally controlled and dynamic DNA structures with programmable lifetimes, that are able to operate autonomously and self-revert to the starting state are challenging to achieve due to tedious and very system-specific sequence design. Here, we present a straightforward concept to program transient lifetimes into DNA duplexes based on the pH-sensitive DNA i-motif switch. We integrate the i-motif switch with an internal, non-linear pH-resetting function using a rationally designed chemical reaction framework, by which the switch autonomously undergoes a complete "off-on-off"-cycle

SUBMITTER: Heinen L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5439531 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature