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Controlling Self-Assembly Kinetics of DNA-Functionalized Liposomes Using Toehold Exchange Mechanism.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Repository DOI


Change log

Authors

Parolini, Lucia 
Kotar, Jurij 
Di Michele, Lorenzo  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1458-9747
Mognetti, Bortolo M 

Abstract

The selectivity of Watson-Crick base pairing has allowed the design of DNA-based functional materials bearing an unprecedented level of accuracy. Examples include DNA origami, made of tiles assembling into arbitrarily complex shapes, and DNA coated particles featuring rich phase behaviors. Frequently, the realization of conceptual DNA-nanotechnology designs has been hampered by the lack of strategies for effectively controlling relaxations. In this article, we address the problem of kinetic control on DNA-mediated interactions between Brownian objects. We design a kinetic pathway based on toehold-exchange mechanisms that enables rearrangement of DNA bonds without the need for thermal denaturation, and test it on suspensions of DNA-functionalized liposomes, demonstrating tunability of aggregation rates over more than 1 order of magnitude. While the possibility to design complex phase behaviors using DNA as a glue is already well recognized, our results demonstrate control also over the kinetics of such systems.

Description

Keywords

DNA, aggregation, kinetics, liposomes, self-assembly, toeholding, Base Pairing, DNA, Kinetics, Liposomes, Nucleic Acid Denaturation

Journal Title

ACS Nano

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1936-0851
1936-086X

Volume Title

10

Publisher

American Chemical Society (ACS)
Sponsorship
Leverhulme Trust (ECF-2015-494)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/J017566/1)
L.P., L.D.M. and J.K. acknowledge support from the EPRSC Programme Grant CAPITALS number EP/J017566/1. L.D.M. acknowledges support from the Oppenheimer Fund and Emmanuel College Cambridge. B.M.M. acknowledges support from the Univeristé Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).