Nucleic Acid Based Molecular Devices

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Abstract

In biology, nucleic acids are carriers of molecular information: DNA's base sequence stores and imparts genetic instructions, while RNA's sequence plays the role of a messenger and a regulator of gene expression. As biopolymers, nucleic acids also have exciting physicochemical properties, which can be rationally influenced by the base sequence in myriad ways. Consequently, in recent years nucleic acids have also become important building blocks for bottom-up nanotechnology: as molecules for the self-assembly of molecular nanostructures and also as a material for building machinelike nanodevices. In this Review we will cover the most important developments in this growing field of nucleic acid nanodevices. We also provide an overview of the biochemical and biophysical background of this field and the major "historical" influences that shaped its development. Particular emphasis is laid on DNA molecular motors, molecular robotics, molecular information processing, and applications of nucleic acid nanodevices in biology. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

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The Vienna RNA secondary structure server provides a web interface to the most frequently used functions of the Vienna RNA software package for the analysis of RNA secondary structures. It currently offers prediction of secondary structure from a single sequence, prediction of the consensus secondary structure for a set of aligned sequences and the design of sequences that will fold into a predefined structure. All three services can be accessed via the Vienna RNA web server at http://rna.tbi.univie.ac.at/.

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Self-assembly of DNA into nanoscale three-dimensional shapes

Shawn M. Douglas, Hendrik Dietz, Tim Liedl … (2009)

Molecular self-assembly offers a ‘bottom-up’ route to fabrication with subnanometre precision of complex structures from simple components1. DNA has proven a versatile building block2–5 for programmable construction of such objects, including two-dimensional crystals6, nanotubes7–11, and three-dimensional wireframe nanopolyhedra12–17. Templated self-assembly of DNA18 into custom two-dimensional shapes on the megadalton scale has been demonstrated previously with a multiple-kilobase ‘scaffold strand’ that is folded into a flat array of antiparallel helices by interactions with hundreds of oligonucleotide ‘staple strands’19, 20. Here we extend this method to building custom three-dimensional shapes formed as pleated layers of helices constrained to a honeycomb lattice. We demonstrate the design and assembly of nanostructures approximating six shapes — monolith, square nut, railed bridge, genie bottle, stacked cross, slotted cross — with precisely controlled dimensions ranging from 10 to 100 nm. We also show hierarchical assembly of structures such as homomultimeric linear tracks and of heterotrimeric wireframe icosahedra. Proper assembly requires week-long folding times and calibrated monovalent and divalent cation concentrations. We anticipate that our strategy for self-assembling custom three-dimensional shapes will provide a general route to the manufacture of sophisticated devices bearing features on the nanometer scale.

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The availability of large molecular weight protein- and peptide-based drugs due to the recent advances in the field of molecular biology has given us new ways to treat a number of diseases. Synthetic hydrogels offer a possibly effective and convenient way to administer these compounds. Hydrogels are hydrophilic, three-dimensional networks, which are able to imbibe large amounts of water or biological fluids, and thus resemble, to a large extent, a biological tissue. They are insoluble due to the presence of chemical (tie-points, junctions) and/or physical crosslinks such as entanglements and crystallites. These materials can be synthesized to respond to a number of physiological stimuli present in the body, such as pH, ionic strength and temperature. The aim of this article is to present a concise review on the applications of hydrogels in the pharmaceutical field, hydrogel characterization and analysis of drug release from such devices.