DNA Origami Nanostructures - DNA Nanotechnology: From Structure to Function - page 200

Chapter 10
DNA Origami Nanostructures

Huajie Liu and Chunhai Fan

Abstract The term “DNA origami” was proposed by Paul Rothemund in 2006 to
describe his invention of a new type of DNA nanostructures. In that revolutionary
work, he showed the ability of controlled folding of a long single-stranded scaffold
DNA, with the help of hundreds of short staple strands, into exquisite nanopatterns.
After his invention, this technique has been a constant focus in the field of DNA
nanotechnology for the past few years. Great efforts have been made to build new
2D and 3D DNA origami structures, improve assembly strategy, study inherent
properties, and develop new applications. In this chapter, we will summarize the
structural evolution of DNA origami from Rothemund's first invention to the latest
developments in constructing more complex and larger structures, optimizing the
assembly, and combining it with top-down techniques.

Keywords DNA origami • DNA nanostructures • DNA self-assembly •

Top-down fabrication • Bottom-up self-assembly

10.1 Introduction

Since its introduction by Nadrian Seeman 30 years ago [ 1 ], DNA has now been
proved as a powerful material for nanofabrication [ 2 ]. Based on specific base-pair
formation and programmable sequence, a given set of designed oligonucleotides
are able to form a specific man-made DNA motif with the size of sub-10 nm [ 3 ].
These DNA motifs, or often termed DNA tiles, could be further assembled into
2D/3D finite nanostructures and 2D lattice, even 3D DNA crystals [ 4 - 7 ]. However,
the difficulties in building submicron finite nanostructures with fully addressability

H. Liu • C. Fan ( )
Laboratory of Physical Biology, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China
e-mail: [e-mail]