DNA as a structural nanomaterial has been the subject of intense interest for the past 20 years. The use of DNA to assemble functional nanostructures has become a multidisciplinary field; however, technical challenges and new problems have arisen in the pursuit of more advanced structures and potential applications. Two critical issues are: (1) how to effectively create larger origami superstructures; and (2) how to organize heterogeneous elements in precise and controllable fashion. Here, we demonstrate that DNA origami scaffolds can be ligated to form larger structures by the addition of magnesium salts, which allows efficient assembly along the vertical edges of the origami. This provides a potential route for the formation of larger arrays. In addition, we present the heterogeneous organization of semiconducting quantum dots (QDs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on a single DNA origami template  [schematic (a), AFM image (b)]. Controllable assembly of heterogeneous nanomoeities opens new opportunities for the creation of complex nanoassemblies which can display unique properties based on programmable interactions between electrooptically active constituents.

Programmable assembly of DNA and nanomaterial structures

244th National Meeting (2012)

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