Concepedia

Three-Dimensional Structures Self-Assembled from DNA Bricks

Yonggang Ke, Luvena L. Ong, William M. Shih, Peng Yin

Science · 2012 · 1.3K citations · 39 references

TL;DR

We present a simple, robust method to build complex 3D structures using short synthetic DNA strands called “DNA bricks.” The method employs one‑step annealing of 32‑nt bricks that bind to four neighbors; each 8‑bp interaction defines a 2.5 × 2.5 × 2.7 nm voxel, enabling self‑assembly of prescribed shapes from a 10 × 10 × 10‑voxel molecular canvas. Using this approach, we fabricated 102 distinct shapes with intricate surface features, interior cavities, and tunnels.

Abstract

We describe a simple and robust method to construct complex three-dimensional (3D) structures by using short synthetic DNA strands that we call "DNA bricks." In one-step annealing reactions, bricks with hundreds of distinct sequences self-assemble into prescribed 3D shapes. Each 32-nucleotide brick is a modular component; it binds to four local neighbors and can be removed or added independently. Each 8-base pair interaction between bricks defines a voxel with dimensions of 2.5 by 2.5 by 2.7 nanometers, and a master brick collection defines a "molecular canvas" with dimensions of 10 by 10 by 10 voxels. By selecting subsets of bricks from this canvas, we constructed a panel of 102 distinct shapes exhibiting sophisticated surface features, as well as intricate interior cavities and tunnels.