Direct atomic force microscopy observation of DNA tile crystal growth at the single-molecule level.

Direct observation of single molecule conformational change of tight-turn paperclip DNA triplex in solution.

DNA triplex modulates gene expression by forming stable conformation in physiological condition. However, it is not feasible to observe this unique molecular structure of large molecule with 54 oligodeoxynucleotides directly by conventional nuclear magnetic approach. In this study, we observed directly single molecular images of paperclip DNA triplexes formation in a buffer solution of pH 6.0 b...

Direct Single-Molecule Observation of Mode and Geometry of RecA-Mediated Homology Search.

Genomic integrity, when compromised by accrued DNA lesions, is maintained through efficient repair via homologous recombination. For this process the ubiquitous recombinase A (RecA), and its homologues such as the human Rad51, are of central importance, able to align and exchange homologous sequences within single-stranded and double-stranded DNA in order to swap out defective regions. Here, we...

Reducing facet nucleation during algorithmic self-assembly.

Algorithmic self-assembly, a generalization of crystal growth, has been proposed as a mechanism for bottom-up fabrication of complex nanostructures and autonomous DNA computation. In principle, growth can be programmed by designing a set of molecular tiles with binding interactions that enforce assembly rules. In practice, however, errors during assembly cause undesired products, drastically re...

Molecular processes studied at a single-molecule level using DNA origami nanostructures and atomic force microscopy.

DNA origami nanostructures allow for the arrangement of different functionalities such as proteins, specific DNA structures, nanoparticles, and various chemical modifications with unprecedented precision. The arranged functional entities can be visualized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) which enables the study of molecular processes at a single-molecular level. Examples comprise the investigat...

Analyzing DNA Structure Quantitatively at a Single-Molecule Level by Atomic Force Microscopy