A Self-Assembled Rhombohedral DNA Crystal Scaffold with Tunable Cavity Sizes and High-Resolution Structural Detail

Chad R. Simmons, Tara MacCulloch, Fei Zhang, Yan Liu, Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Hao Yan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

DNA is an ideal molecule for the construction of 3D crystals with tunable properties owing to its high programmability based on canonical Watson–Crick base pairing, with crystal assembly in all three dimensions facilitated by immobile Holliday junctions and sticky end cohesion. Despite the promise of these systems, only a handful of unique crystal scaffolds have been reported. Herein, we describe a new crystal system with a repeating sequence that mediates the assembly of a 3D scaffold via a series of Holliday junctions linked together with complementary sticky ends. By using an optimized junction sequence, we could determine a high-resolution (2.7 Å) structure containing R3 crystal symmetry, with a slight subsequent improvement (2.6 Å) using a modified sticky-end sequence. The immobile Holliday junction sequence allowed us to produce crystals that provided unprecedented atomic detail. In addition, we expanded the crystal cavities by 50 % by adding an additional helical turn between junctions, and we solved the structure to 4.5 Å resolution by molecular replacement.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)18619-18626
Number of pages8
JournalAngewandte Chemie - International Edition
Volume59
Issue number42
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 12 2020

Keywords

  • DNA lattices
  • Holliday junctions
  • host–guest scaffolds
  • self-assembly
  • structural DNA nanotechnology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Catalysis
  • General Chemistry

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