{"407121":{"#nid":"407121","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Who needs water to assemble DNA? Non-aqueous solvent supports DNA nanotechnology","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists around the world are using the programmability of DNA to assemble complex nanometer-scale structures. Until now, however, production of these artificial structures has been limited to water-based environments, because DNA naturally functions inside the watery environment of living cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have now shown that they can assemble DNA nanostructures in a solvent containing no water. They also discovered that adding a small amount of water to their solvent increases the assembly rate and provides a new means for controlling the process. The solvent may also facilitate the production of more complex structures by reducing the problem of DNA becoming trapped in unintended structures.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research could open up new applications for DNA nanotechnology, and help apply DNA technology to the fabrication of nanoscale semiconductor and plasmonic structures. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation and NASA, the research will be published as the cover story in Volume 54, Issue 23 of the journal \u003Cem\u003EAngewandte Chemie International Edition\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDNA nanotechnology structures are getting more and more complex, and this solvent could help researchers that are working in this growing field,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/Hud\/Nicholas\u0022\u003ENicholas Hud\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWith this work, we have shown that DNA nanostructures can be assembled in a water-free solvent, and that we can mix water with the same solvent to speed up the assembly. We can also take the structures that were assembled in this solvent mixed with water \u2013remove the water by applying vacuum \u2013 and have the DNA structures remain intact in the water-free solvent.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe assembly rate of DNA nanostructures can be very slow, and depends strongly on temperature. Raising the temperature increases this rate, but temperatures that are too high can cause the DNA structures to fall apart. The solvent system developed at Georgia Tech adds a new level of control over DNA assembly. DNA structures assemble at lower temperatures in this solvent, and adding water can adjust the solvent\u2019s viscosity, which allows for faster assembly compared to the water-free version of the solvent.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis solvent changes the rules,\u201d said Isaac G\u00e1llego, a postdoctoral researcher in Hud\u2019s lab and the paper\u2019s first author. \u201cWe now have a tool that controls DNA assembly kinetics and thermodynamics all in one solvent. This solvent also offers enhanced properties for nanotechnology and for the stability of these nanomaterials in solution.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EG\u00e1llego had worked in DNA nanotechnology before coming to Georgia Tech, and wasconvinced that alternative solvents could advance this field. At Georgia Tech he evaluated new solvents for use with DNA nanostructures, solvents that had been designed for other purposes. One solvent he tested, called glycholine that is a mixture of glycerol and choline chloride, allowed a two-dimensional DNA origami structure to assemble in six days at a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENot only did the glycholine assemble the DNA structure at a relatively low temperature, but it also avoided \u201ckinetic traps,\u201d intermediate structures that are stable, but not the desired structure, G\u00e1llego said. Structures that fail to completely assemble are a major source of low yields in the DNA nanofabrication process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis solvent could provide a new tool to make more complicated designs with DNA because you can avoid trapping these complex structures at intermediate steps,\u201d he added. \u201cKinetic traps are among the bottlenecks for producing more complicated DNA nanostructures.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGlycholine is miscible in water, so it can be mixed in any ratio with water to control the kinetics of the assembly process. For instance, one structure that assembles in six days in pure solvent will assemble in three hours in a glycholine solution containing 10 percent water. A key feature of the new solvent system is that it does not require changes to existing DNA nanotechnology designs that were developed for water.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou can go back and forth between hydrated and non-hydrated states,\u201d said G\u00e1llego. \u201cThis solvent system preserves the DNA structures that have been developed to work in water.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe solvent system could improve the combined use of metallic nanoparticles and DNA based materials. In the typical aqueous solvents where DNA nanotechnology is performed, nanoparticles are prone to aggregation. The solvent\u2019s low volatility could also allow storage of assembled DNA structures without the concern that a water-based medium would dry out.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team, which also included Martha Grover from Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, has so far used the solvent to assemble three structures, including two DNA origami structures. In future work, they hope to use the control provided by water-free solvents to obtain dynamic DNA structural rearrangements that are not possible in water, and investigate other solvents that may have additional properties attractive for nanotechnology applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe were confident all along that we would find a solvent that would be compatible with existing DNA nanotechnology,\u201d added Hud, who is also director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/centerforchemicalevolution.com\/\u0022\u003ENSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution\u003C\/a\u003E and associate director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ibb.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EParker H. Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E, both at Georgia Tech. \u201cWhat was surprising was finding a solvent that allows the assembly of structures more easily than in water. That was completely unexpected because DNA nanotechnology was developed in water.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research on water-free solvents grew out of Georgia Tech research into the origins of life. Hud and colleagues had wondered if the molecules necessary for life, such as the ancestor of DNA, could have developed in a water-free solution. In some cases, he noted, the chemistry necessary to make the molecules of life would be much easier without water being present.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis work was inspired by research into the origins of life with the basic question of whether complex DNA structures could exist in non-aqueous solvents, and we showed that they can,\u201d said Hud. \u201cAnd what we\u2019ve found working with these new solvents could help answer some questions about the origins of life, while also having applications in nanotechnology.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the NASA Astrobiology Program under the NSF Center for Chemical Evolution (CHE-1004570). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or NASA.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Isaac G\u00e1llego, Martha A. Grover, and Nicholas V. Hud, \u201cFolding and Imaging of DNA Nanostructures in Anhydrous and Hydrated Deep-Eutectic Solvents, (Angewandte Chemie International, 2015).\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/anie.201412354\/abstract\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/anie.201412354\/abstract\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Brett Israel (404-385-1900) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have now shown that they can assemble DNA nanostructures in a solvent containing no water.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have shown that they can assemble DNA nanostructures in a solvent containing no water."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-05-26 09:35:16","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:21","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-05-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-05-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"407081":{"id":"407081","type":"image","title":"Solvent for DNA nanostructures","body":null,"created":"1449254168","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:36:08","changed":"1475895132","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:12","alt":"Solvent for DNA nanostructures","file":{"fid":"202132","name":"dna-structures2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-structures2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-structures2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1034430,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dna-structures2_0.jpg?itok=WzOjHy6s"}},"407091":{"id":"407091","type":"image","title":"DNA nanostructure imaging","body":null,"created":"1449254168","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:36:08","changed":"1475895132","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:12","alt":"DNA nanostructure imaging","file":{"fid":"202133","name":"dna-structures1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-structures1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-structures1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1278119,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dna-structures1_0.jpg?itok=P6azVPd3"}},"407101":{"id":"407101","type":"image","title":"DNA nanostructures","body":null,"created":"1449254168","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:36:08","changed":"1475895132","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:12","alt":"DNA nanostructures","file":{"fid":"202134","name":"dna-structures3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-structures3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-structures3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":135248,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dna-structures3_0.jpg?itok=2m4jeS4R"}}},"media_ids":["407081","407091","407101"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4340","name":"assembly"},{"id":"10339","name":"center for chemical evolution"},{"id":"1041","name":"dna"},{"id":"126881","name":"DNA nanotechnology"},{"id":"4504","name":"Nicholas Hud"},{"id":"169724","name":"solvent"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtooon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtooon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}