Switchable supracolloidal 3D DNA origami nanotubes mediated through fuel/antifuel reactions

Nanoscale ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (32) ◽  
pp. 16995-17004
Author(s):  
Saskia Groeer ◽  
Andreas Walther
Keyword(s):  
Building Blocks ◽  
Dna Origami ◽  
Strand Displacement

3D DNA origami-based building blocks assemble reversibly to supracolloidal nanotubes using toehold-mediated strand displacement as probed by imaging and in situ FRET measurements.

scholarly journals DNA-assembled nanoarchitectures with multiple components in regulated and coordinated motion

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. eaax6023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengfei Zhan ◽  
Maximilian J. Urban ◽  
Steffen Both ◽  
Xiaoyang Duan ◽  
Anton Kuzyk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Building Blocks ◽  
Dna Origami ◽  
Joint Motion ◽  
Coordinated Motion ◽  
Gold Nanocrystals ◽  
Multiple Components ◽  
Working Together ◽  
Gear Trains ◽  
Biological Entities

Coordinating functional parts to operate in concert is essential for machinery. In gear trains, meshed gears are compactly interlocked, working together to impose rotation or translation. In photosynthetic systems, a variety of biological entities in the thylakoid membrane interact with each other, converting light energy into chemical energy. However, coordinating individual parts to carry out regulated and coordinated motion within an artificial nanoarchitecture poses challenges, owing to the requisite control on the nanoscale. Here, we demonstrate DNA-directed nanosystems, which comprise hierarchically-assembled DNA origami filaments, fluorophores, and gold nanocrystals. These individual building blocks can execute independent, synchronous, or joint motion upon external inputs. These are optically monitored in situ using fluorescence spectroscopy, taking advantage of the sensitive distance-dependent interactions between the gold nanocrystals and fluorophores positioned on the DNA origami. Our work leverages the complexity of DNA-based artificial nanosystems with tailored dynamic functionality, representing a viable route towards technomimetic nanomachinery.

Laboratory and in-situ analysis of comet dust

1988 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 8-9
Author(s):  
D.E. Brownlee ◽  
A.L. Albee
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Laboratory Study ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Sem Analysis ◽  
Early Solar System ◽  
Cometary Material ◽  
Comet Dust

Comets are primitive, kilometer-sized bodies that formed in the outer regions of the solar system. Composed of ice and dust, comets are generally believed to be relic building blocks of the outer solar system that have been preserved at cryogenic temperatures since the formation of the Sun and planets. The analysis of cometary material is particularly important because the properties of cometary material provide direct information on the processes and environments that formed and influenced solid matter both in the early solar system and in the interstellar environments that preceded it.The first direct analyses of proven comet dust were made during the Soviet and European spacecraft encounters with Comet Halley in 1986. These missions carried time-of-flight mass spectrometers that measured mass spectra of individual micron and smaller particles. The Halley measurements were semi-quantitative but they showed that comet dust is a complex fine-grained mixture of silicates and organic material. A full understanding of comet dust will require detailed morphological, mineralogical, elemental and isotopic analysis at the finest possible scale. Electron microscopy and related microbeam techniques will play key roles in the analysis. The present and future of electron microscopy of comet samples involves laboratory study of micrometeorites collected in the stratosphere, in-situ SEM analysis of particles collected at a comet and laboratory study of samples collected from a comet and returned to the Earth for detailed study.

scholarly journals Exploring Cu/Al cluster growth and reactivity: from embryonic building blocks to intermetalloid, open-shell superatoms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Schütz ◽  
Christian Gemel ◽  
Maximilian Muhr ◽  
Christian Jandl ◽  
Samia Kahlal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Closed Shell ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Open Shell ◽  
Cluster Growth ◽  
Powerful Technique

Cu/Al cluster growth reactions leading to open- and closed-shell superatoms are investigated. Therein, LIFDI-MS is presented as a powerful technique for the in situ detection of cluster identities and reactivity patterns.

scholarly journals Nanomechanics of self-assembled DNA building blocks

Nanoscale ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Penth ◽  
Kordula Schellnhuber ◽  
Roland Bennewitz ◽  
Johanna Blass
Keyword(s):  
Structural Dynamics ◽  
Force Spectroscopy ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Dna Origami ◽  
Self Assembled ◽  
High Flexibility

Massive parallel force spectroscopy reveals a surprisingly high flexibility for DNA constructs used in DNA origami. The high flexibility is attributed to the structural dynamics of DNA self-assemblies.

scholarly journals A Structurally Variable Hinged Tetrahedron Framework from DNA Origami

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Smith ◽  
Verena Schüller ◽  
Carsten Forthmann ◽  
Robert Schreiber ◽  
Philip Tinnefeld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Self Assembly ◽  
Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Dna Origami ◽  
Microscopy Technique ◽  
Wire Frame ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Linker Molecules

Nanometer-sized polyhedral wire-frame objects hold a wide range of potential applications both as structural scaffolds as well as a basis for synthetic nanocontainers. The utilization of DNA as basic building blocks for such structures allows the exploitation of bottom-up self-assembly in order to achieve molecular programmability through the pairing of complementary bases. In this work, we report on a hollow but rigid tetrahedron framework of 75 nm strut length constructed with the DNA origami method. Flexible hinges at each of their four joints provide a means for structural variability of the object. Through the opening of gaps along the struts, four variants can be created as confirmed by both gel electrophoresis and direct imaging techniques. The intrinsic site addressability provided by this technique allows the unique targeted attachment of dye and/or linker molecules at any point on the structure's surface, which we prove through the superresolution fluorescence microscopy technique DNA PAINT.

Symmetrical tetra-β″-sulfoleno-meso-aryl-porphyrins — synthesis, spectroscopy and structural characterization

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 115-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srinivas Banala ◽  
Klaus Wurst ◽  
Bernhard Kräutler
Keyword(s):  
Metal Complexes ◽  
Crystal Structures ◽  
Structural Characterization ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Cycloaddition Reactions ◽  
One Pot

We report here the preparation (in "one-pot") of a tetra-β″-sulfoleno-meso-aryl-porphyrin in about 80% yield by using an optimized modification of Lindsey's variant of the Adler–Longo approach. The Zn ( II )-, Cu ( II )- and Ni ( II )-complexes of the symmetrical porphyrin were prepared and characterized spectroscopically. Crystal structures of the fluorescent Zn ( II )- and of the non-fluorescent Ni ( II )-tetra-β″-sulfoleno-meso-aryl-porphyrinates showed the highly substituted porphyrin ligands to be nearly perfectly planar. The Zn ( II )-complex of this porphyrin has been used as a thermal precursor of a reactive diene, and — formally — of lateral and diagonal bis-dienes, of a tris-diene and of a tetra-diene, which all underwent [4 + 2]-cycloaddition reactions in situ with a range of dienophiles. Thus, the tetra-β″-sulfoleno-meso-aryl-porphyrin and its metal complexes represent reactive building blocks, "programmed" for the syntheses of symmetrical and highly functionalized porphyrins.

scholarly journals In situ X-ray Diffraction Investigation of the Crystallisation of Perfluorinated Ce(IV)-based Metal-Organic Frameworks with UiO-66 and MIL-140 architectures

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Shearan ◽  
Jannick Jacobsen ◽  
Ferdinando Costantino ◽  
Roberto D’Amato ◽  
Dmitri Novikov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crystal Growth ◽  
Metal Organic Frameworks ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Nucleation And Growth ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Rate Determining Step ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Metal Organic

We report on the results of a thorough <i>in situ</i> synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction study of the crystallisation in aqueous medium of two recently discovered perfluorinated Ce(IV)-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), analogues of the already well investigated Zr(IV)-based UiO-66 and MIL-140A, namely, F4_UiO-66(Ce) and F4_MIL-140A(Ce). The two MOFs were originally obtained in pure form in similar conditions, using ammonium cerium nitrate and tetrafluoroterephthalic acid as building blocks, and small variations of the reaction parameters were found to yield mixed phases. Here, we investigate the crystallisation of these compounds <i>in situ</i> in a wide range of conditions, varying parameters such as temperature, amount of the protonation modulator nitric acid (HNO<sub>3</sub>) and amount of the coordination modulator acetic acid (AcOH). When only HNO<sub>3</sub> is present in the reaction environment, F4_MIL-140A(Ce) is obtained as a pure phase. Heating preferentially accelerates nucleation, which becomes rate determining below 57 °C, whereas the modulator influences nucleation and crystal growth to a similar extent. Upon addition of AcOH to the system, alongside HNO<sub>3</sub>, mixed-phased products, consisting of F4_MIL-140A(Ce) and F4_UiO-66(Ce), are obtained. In these conditions, F4_UiO-66(Ce) is always formed faster and no interconversion between the two phases occurs. In the case of F4_UiO-66(Ce), crystal growth is always the rate determining step. An increase in the amount of HNO<sub>3</sub> slows down both nucleation and growth rates for F4_MIL-140A(Ce), whereas nucleation is mainly affected for F4_UiO-66(Ce). In addition, a higher amount HNO<sub>3</sub> favours the formation of F4_MIL-140A(Ce). Similarly, increasing the amount of AcOH leads to slowing down of the nucleation and growth rate, but favours the formation of F4_UiO-66(Ce). The pure F4_UiO-66(Ce) phase could also be obtained when using larger amounts of AcOH in the presence of minimal HNO<sub>3</sub>. Based on these <i>in situ</i> results, a new optimised route to achieving a pure, high quality F4_MIL-140A(Ce) phase in mild conditions (60 °C, 1 h) is also identified.

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