Publication of IMPRS-LS student Yusuf Qutbuddin

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Qutbuddin, Y., Krohn, J.H., Brüggenthies, G.A., Stein, J., Gavrilovic, S., Stehr, F., and Schwille, P.
(IMPRS-LS students are in bold)
J Phys Chem B, 2021, 125, 13181-13191
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c07694

Design Features to Accelerate the Higher-Order Assembly of DNA Origami on Membranes

Nanotechnology often exploits DNA origami nanostructures assembled into even larger superstructures up to micrometer sizes with nanometer shape precision. However, large-scale assembly of such structures is very time-consuming. Here, we investigated the efficiency of superstructure assembly on surfaces using indirect cross-linking through low-complexity connector strands binding staple strand extensions, instead of connector strands binding to scaffold loops. Using single-molecule imaging techniques, including fluorescence microscopy and atomic force microscopy, we show that low sequence complexity connector strands allow formation of DNA origami superstructures on lipid membranes, with an order-of-magnitude enhancement in the assembly speed of superstructures. A number of effects, including suppression of DNA hairpin formation, high local effective binding site concentration, and multivalency are proposed to contribute to the acceleration. Thus, the use of low-complexity sequences for DNA origami higher-order assembly offers a very simple but efficient way of improving throughput in DNA origami design.