Work

De novo design of an RNA tile that self-assembles into a homo-octameric nanoprism

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: Rational, de novo design of RNA nanostructures can potentially integrate a wide array of structural and functional diversities. Such nanostructures have great promises in biomedical applications. Despite impressive progress in this field, all RNA building blocks (or tiles) reported so far are not geometrically well defined. They are generally flexible and can only assemble into a mixture of complexes with different sizes. To achieve defined structures, multiple tiles with different sequences are needed. In this study, we design an RNA tile that can homo-oligomerize into a uniform RNA nanostructure. The designed RNA nanostructure is characterized by gel electrophoresis, atomic force microscopy and cryogenic electron microscopy imaging. We believe that development along this line would help RNA nanotechnology to reach the structural control that is currently associated with DNA nanotechnology. The rational design of nucleic acid nanostructures requires building blocks that can be predictably combined into a uniform structure. Here, the authors present a designed RNA building block able to self-assemble into a homo-octameric cube.

Source: Nature Communications

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6724

Authors: Jinwen Yu, Zhiyu Liu, Wen Jiang, Guansong Wang, Chengde Mao

Institutions: Purdue University West Lafayette, Xinqiao Hospital

Language: English

Topic: Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $6,990

Funders: National Science Foundation, Purdue University, National Natural Science Foundation of China