Bioinspired designer DNA NanoGripper for virus sensing and potential inhibition.

DNA has shown great biocompatibility, programmable mechanical properties, and precise structural addressability at the nanometer scale, rendering it a material for constructing versatile nanorobots for biomedical applications. Here, we present the design principle, synthesis, and characterization of a DNA nanorobotic hand, called DNA NanoGripper, that contains a palm and four bendable fingers as inspired by naturally evolved human hands, bird claws, and bacteriophages. Each NanoGripper finger consists of three phalanges connected by three rotatable joints that are bendable in response to the binding of other entities.

Net-Shaped DNA Nanostructure-Based Lateral Flow Assays for Rapid and Sensitive SARS-CoV-2 Detection.

Lateral flow assay (LFA)-based rapid antigen tests are experiencing extensive global uptake as an expeditious and highly effective modality for the screening of viral infections during the COVID-19 pandemic. While these devices have played a significant role in alleviating the burden on the public healthcare system, their specificity and sensitivity fall short compared with molecular tests. In this study, we endeavor to address both limitations through the utilization of DNA nanotechnology in LFA format, wherein we substitute the target-specific antibody with designer DNA nanostructure-based molecular probes for recognizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus via multivalent, pattern-matching interactions.

Surface-assisted self-assembly of 2D, DNA binary crystals.

Surface-assisted, tile-based DNA self-assembly is a powerful method to construct large, two-dimensional (2D) nanoarrays. To further increase the structural complexity, one idea is to incorporate different types of tiles into one assembly system. However, different tiles have different adsorption strengths to the solid surface.

Physiological dynamics as indicators of plant response to manganese binary effect.

Introduction: Heavy metals negatively affect plant physiology. However, plants can reduce their toxicity through physiological responses. is a suitable candidate tree for carrying out the phytoremediation of manganese (Mn)-contaminated soil.

Mechanical deformation behaviors and structural properties of ligated DNA crystals.

DNA self-assembly has emerged as a powerful strategy for constructing complex nanostructures. While the mechanics of individual DNA strands have been studied extensively, the deformation behaviors and structural properties of self-assembled architectures are not well understood. This is partly due to the small dimensions and limited experimental methods available.

Programming DNA Self-Assembly by Geometry†.

This manuscript introduces geometry as a means to program the tile-based DNA self-assembly in two and three dimensions. This strategy complements the sequence-focused programmable assembly. DNA crystal assembly critically relies on intermotif, sticky-end cohesion, which requires complementarity not only in sequence but also in geometry.

Powering ≈50 µm Motion by a Molecular Event in DNA Crystals.

A major challenge in material design is to couple nanoscale molecular and supramolecular events into desired chemical, physical, and mechanical properties at the macroscopic scale. Here, a novel self-assembled DNA crystal actuator is reported, which has reversible, directional expansion and contraction for over 50 μm in response to versatile stimuli, including temperature, ionic strength, pH, and redox potential. The macroscopic actuation is powered by cooperative dissociation or cohesion of thousands of DNA sticky ends at the designed crystal contacts.

Structure-Guided Designing Pre-Organization in Bivalent Aptamers.

Multivalent interaction is often used in molecular design and leads to engineered multivalent ligands with increased binding avidities toward target molecules. The resulting binding avidity relies critically on the rigid scaffold that joins multiple ligands as the scaffold controls the relative spatial positions and orientations toward target molecules. Currently, no general design rules exist to construct a simple and rigid DNA scaffold for properly joining multiple ligands.

XK8, a Potential Bioadsorbent Material for Adsorbing Cd(II) and Sb(III) Compound Pollution: Characteristics and Effects.

Soil heavy metal pollution is a common problem in mining areas. The soil of the Xikuangshan located in Lengshuijiang, Hunan Province, China contains various excessive heavy metals, especially antimony and cadmium. Previous studies have shown that heavy metal-tolerant microorganisms screened from mining areas have the potential to adsorb heavy metals.

Kinetic DNA Self-Assembly: Simultaneously Co-folding Complementary DNA Strands into Identical Nanostructures.

DNA origami is a powerful method for constructing DNA nanostructures. It requires long single-stranded DNAs. The preparation of such long DNA strands is often quite tedious and has a limited production yield.

5'-Phosphorylation Strengthens Sticky-End Cohesions.

Sticky-end cohesion plays a critical role in molecular biology and nucleic acid nanotechnology. Although free energy calculations and molecular mechanics can predict these interactions, chemical modification would compromise such predictions. Herein, we have used rationally designed 3D DNA crystals as a tool to experimentally investigate the modulation of 5'-phosphorylation on sticky-end cohesions.

Engineering the Nanoscaled Morphologies of Linear DNA Homopolymers.

Supramolecular polymers have unique characteristics such as self-healing and easy processing. However, the scope of their structures is limited to mostly either flexible, random coils or rigid, straight chains. By broadening this scope, novel properties, functions, and applications can be explored.

Assembly of a DNA Origami Chinese Knot by Only 15% of the Staple Strands.

As a giant leap in DNA self-assembly, DNA origami has exhibited an unprecedented ability to construct nanostructures with arbitrary shapes and sizes. In typical DNA origami, hundreds of short DNA staple strands fold a long, single-stranded (ss) DNA scaffold cooperatively into designed nanostructures. However, large numbers of DNA strands are expensive and would hinder applications such as pharmaceutical investigations because of the complicated components.

Making Engineered 3D DNA Crystals Robust.

Engineered 3D DNA crystals are promising scaffolds for bottom-up construction of three-dimensional, macroscopic devices from the molecular level. Nevertheless, this has been hindered by the highly constrained conditions for DNA crystals to be stable. Here we report a method to prepare robust 3D DNA crystals by postassembly ligation to remove this constraint.

Patterning Nanoparticles with DNA Molds.

We report a nanopatterning strategy in which self-assembled DNA nanostructures serve as structural templates. In previous work, ordering of NPs primarily relied on specific recognition, e.g.

In vivo production of RNA nanostructures via programmed folding of single-stranded RNAs.

Programmed self-assembly of nucleic acids is a powerful approach for nano-constructions. The assembled nanostructures have been explored for various applications. However, nucleic acid assembly often requires chemical or in vitro enzymatical synthesis of DNA or RNA, which is not a cost-effective production method on a large scale.

Insight into the effects of modifying π-bridges on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells containing triphenylamine dyes.

Herein we prepare four novel D-π-A dyes based on triphenylamine (ZHG1, ZHG2, ZHG3 and ZHG4) by modifying the π-bridges. Compared with ZHG1, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ZHG2 is improved to 6.1% after the introduction of ethynyl.

Macrocyclic Se4N2[7,7]ferrocenophane and Se2N[10]ferrocenophane containing benzyl unit: synthesis, complexation, crystal structures, electrochemical and optical properties.

Two novel macrocyclic polyselena[n]ferrocenophanes containing a pendent benzyl unit, 20-membered Se4N2[7,7]ferrocenophane (L1) and 10-membered Se2N[10]ferrocenophane (L2), were designed and synthesized. The reaction of L1 with two molar amounts of metal salts (M = Cu(+), Cu(2+), Pd(2+) and Hg(2+)) led to six dimetallic complexes 1-6. A crystallographic study revealed that each metal center in 1-5 was tetracoordinated to two selenium atoms from different ferrocene units, one aliphatic nitrogen atom and one co-ligand.

Assembly of various degrees of interpenetration of Co-MOFs based on mononuclear or dinuclear cluster units: magnetic properties and gas adsorption.

Three new Co-based MOFs with a nanosized tetradentate pyridine ligand, N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(4-(4-pyridine)-phenyl) biphenyl-4,4′-diamine (TPPBDA) and carboxylate co-ligands, [Co(TPPBDA)(NO3)2]n·2H2O (1), [Co2(TPPBDA)(bpdc)2 (H2O)]n·2DMA (2) and [Co(TPPBDA)0.5(hfipbb)(H2O)]n·3.5H2O (3) (H2bpdc = biphenyldicarboxylic acid, H2hfipbb = 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)bis-(benzoic acid), DMA = N,N-dimethylacetamide) have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions.

One non-interpenetrated chiral porous multifunctional metal-organic framework and its applications for sensing small solvent molecules and adsorption.

The herein obtained multifunctional compound is a promising fluorescent material that can give tunable fluorescence emissions by changing the solvent molecules. The fluorescence sensing behaviors are different for non-protonic and protonic solvents. To date, such a large response range of emission positions for fluorescent MOFs has not been reported before.