Ribonuclease-Responsive DNA Nanoswitches

Programmable pH-triggered DNA nanoswitches.

We have designed programmable DNA-based nanoswitches whose closing/opening can be triggered over specific different pH windows. These nanoswitches form an intramolecular triplex DNA structure through pH-sensitive parallel Hoogsteen interactions. We demonstrate that by simply changing the relative content of TAT/CGC triplets in the switches, we can rationally tune their pH dependence over more t...

Optomagnetic detection of DNA nanoswitches

Positional photocleavage control of DNA-based nanoswitches.

DNA-based switches are currently operated by manual solution-phase addition of 'set-strands'. We demonstrate another operation method-sterically inaccessible 'set-strands', released from a surface into solution by spatially controlled photocleavage. This technique will enable microarrays of set-strands to operate many DNA-based switches in self-contained computational and diagnostic devices.

Biomimetic Stress Sensitive Hydrogel Controlled by DNA Nanoswitches

One of the most intriguing and important aspects of biological supramolecular materials is its ability to adapt macroscopic properties in response to environmental cues for controlling cellular processes. Recently, bulk matrix stiffness, in particular, stress sensitivity, has been established as a key mechanical cue in cellular function and development. However, stress-stiffening capacity and t...

Electronic control of DNA-based nanoswitches and nanodevices.

Here we demonstrate that we can rationally and finely control the functionality of different DNA-based nanodevices and nanoswitches using electronic inputs. To demonstrate the versatility of our approach we have used here three different model DNA-based nanoswitches triggered by heavy metals and specific DNA sequences and a copper-responsive DNAzyme. To achieve electronic-induced control of the...