IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v12y2021i1d10.1038_s41467-021-23850-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dynamic self-assembly of compartmentalized DNA nanotubes

Author

Listed:
  • Siddharth Agarwal

    (Department of Bioengineering, University of California)

  • Melissa A. Klocke

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California
    Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California)

  • Passa E. Pungchai

    (Department of Bioengineering, University of California)

  • Elisa Franco

    (Department of Bioengineering, University of California
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California
    Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California
    Molecular Biology Institute, University of California)

Abstract

Bottom-up synthetic biology aims to engineer artificial cells capable of responsive behaviors by using a minimal set of molecular components. An important challenge toward this goal is the development of programmable biomaterials that can provide active spatial organization in cell-sized compartments. Here, we demonstrate the dynamic self-assembly of nucleic acid (NA) nanotubes inside water-in-oil droplets. We develop methods to encapsulate and assemble different types of DNA nanotubes from programmable DNA monomers, and demonstrate temporal control of assembly via designed pathways of RNA production and degradation. We examine the dynamic response of encapsulated nanotube assembly and disassembly with the support of statistical analysis of droplet images. Our study provides a toolkit of methods and components to build increasingly complex and functional NA materials to mimic life-like functions in synthetic cells.

Suggested Citation

  • Siddharth Agarwal & Melissa A. Klocke & Passa E. Pungchai & Elisa Franco, 2021. "Dynamic self-assembly of compartmentalized DNA nanotubes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-23850-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23850-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23850-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-23850-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nishkantha Arulkumaran & Mervyn Singer & Stefan Howorka & Jonathan R. Burns, 2023. "Creating complex protocells and prototissues using simple DNA building blocks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Siddharth Agarwal & Dino Osmanovic & Mahdi Dizani & Melissa A. Klocke & Elisa Franco, 2024. "Dynamic control of DNA condensation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-23850-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.