Biomaterial Database

Effect of Ionic Strength on the Thermal Stability of DNA Origami Nanostructures. 2023

Marcel Hanke, and Emilia Tomm, and Guido Grundmeier, and Adrian Keller

Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, Paderborn University, Warburger Str. 100, 33098, Paderborn, Germany.

The stability of DNA origami nanostructures in aqueous media is closely tied to the presence of cations that screen electrostatic inter-helix repulsion. Here, the thermal melting behavior of different DNA origami nanostructures is investigated in dependence on Mg2+ concentration and compared to calculated ensemble melting temperatures of the staple strands used in DNA origami folding. Strong deviations of the measured DNA origami melting temperatures from the calculated ones are observed, in particular at high ionic strength where the melting temperature saturates and becomes independent of ionic strength. The degree of deviation between the measured and calculated melting temperatures further depends on the superstructure and in particular the mechanical properties of the DNA origami nanostructures. This indicates that thermal stability of a given DNA origami design at high ionic strength is governed predominantly not by electrostatic inter-helix repulsion but mostly by mechanical strain.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009690	Nucleic Acid Conformation	The spatial arrangement of the atoms of a nucleic acid or polynucleotide that results in its characteristic 3-dimensional shape.	DNA Conformation,RNA Conformation,Conformation, DNA,Conformation, Nucleic Acid,Conformation, RNA,Conformations, DNA,Conformations, Nucleic Acid,Conformations, RNA,DNA Conformations,Nucleic Acid Conformations,RNA Conformations
D002412	Cations	Positively charged atoms, radicals or groups of atoms which travel to the cathode or negative pole during electrolysis.	Cation
D004247	DNA	A deoxyribonucleotide polymer that is the primary genetic material of all cells. Eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms normally contain DNA in a double-stranded state, yet several important biological processes transiently involve single-stranded regions. DNA, which consists of a polysugar-phosphate backbone possessing projections of purines (adenine and guanine) and pyrimidines (thymine and cytosine), forms a double helix that is held together by hydrogen bonds between these purines and pyrimidines (adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine).	DNA, Double-Stranded,Deoxyribonucleic Acid,ds-DNA,DNA, Double Stranded,Double-Stranded DNA,ds DNA
D013696	Temperature	The property of objects that determines the direction of heat flow when they are placed in direct thermal contact. The temperature is the energy of microscopic motions (vibrational and translational) of the particles of atoms.	Temperatures
D049329	Nanostructures	Materials which have structured components with at least one dimension in the range of 1 to 100 nanometers. These include NANOCOMPOSITES; NANOPARTICLES; NANOTUBES; and NANOWIRES.	Nanomaterials,Nanostructured Materials,Material, Nanostructured,Materials, Nanostructured,Nanomaterial,Nanostructure,Nanostructured Material
D018625	Microscopy, Atomic Force	A type of scanning probe microscopy in which a probe systematically rides across the surface of a sample being scanned in a raster pattern. The vertical position is recorded as a spring attached to the probe rises and falls in response to peaks and valleys on the surface. These deflections produce a topographic map of the sample.	Atomic Force Microscopy,Force Microscopy,Scanning Force Microscopy,Atomic Force Microscopies,Force Microscopies,Force Microscopies, Scanning,Force Microscopy, Scanning,Microscopies, Atomic Force,Microscopies, Force,Microscopies, Scanning Force,Microscopy, Force,Microscopy, Scanning Force,Scanning Force Microscopies
D036103	Nanotechnology	The development and use of techniques to study physical phenomena and construct structures in the nanoscale size range or smaller.	Nanotechnologies