Driving DNA Origami Assembly with a Terahertz Wave

Chao Zhang; Yifang Yuan; Kaijie Wu; Yue Wang; Shitai Zhu; Jiye Shi; Lihua Wang; Qian Li; Xiaolei Zuo; Chunhai Fan; Chao Chang; Jiang Li

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04369

Driving DNA Origami Assembly with a Terahertz Wave

Nano Lett. 2022 Jan 12;22(1):468-475. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04369. Epub 2021 Dec 30.

Authors

Chao Zhang¹, Yifang Yuan^{2

3}, Kaijie Wu^{2

4}, Yue Wang⁵, Shitai Zhu⁵, Jiye Shi⁵, Lihua Wang^{6

7}, Qian Li⁸, Xiaolei Zuo¹, Chunhai Fan⁸, Chao Chang^{2

9

4}, Jiang Li^{6

8}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Molecular Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Nucleic Acids Chemistry and Nanomedicine, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200025, China.
² Innovation Laboratory of Terahertz Biophysics, National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology, Beijing 100071, China.
³ School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi'an 700071, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, China.
⁵ Division of Physical Biology, CAS Key Laboratory of Interfacial Physics and Technology, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China.
⁶ The Interdisciplinary Research Center, Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Zhangjiang Laboratory, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China.
⁷ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China.
⁸ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules and National Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240, Shanghai, China.
⁹ School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100084, China.

PMID: 34968055
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04369

Abstract

Terahertz (THz) waves show nontrivial interactions with living systems, but the underlying molecular mechanisms have yet to be explored. Here, we employ DNA origami as a model system to study the interactions between THz waves and DNA structures. We find that a 3-min THz illumination (35.2 THz) can drive the unwinding of DNA duplexes at ∼10 °C below their melting point. Computational study reveals that the THz wave can resonate with the vibration of DNA bases, provoking the hydrogen bond breaking. The cooperation of thermal and nonthermal effects allows the unfolding of undesired secondary structures and the THz illumination can generate diverse DNA origami assemblies with the yield (>80%) ∼ 4-fold higher than that by the contact heating at similar temperatures. We also demonstrate the in situ assembly of DNA origami in cell lysate. This method enables remotely controllable assembly of intact biomacromolecules, providing new insight into the bioeffects of THz waves.

Keywords: DNA origami; in situ assembly; near-physiological environments; nonthermal effect; terahertz illumination.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

DNA*
Hydrogen Bonding
Vibration*

Substances

DNA