Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Self-assembling DNA crystals have emerged over the last two decades as an efficient and effective means of organizing matter at the nanoscale, but functionalization of these lattices has proved challenging as physiological buffer conditions are required to maintain structural integrity. In this manuscript, we demonstrate the silicification of mesoporous DNA crystals using sol-gel chemistry. We identify reaction conditions that produce the minimum coating thickness to confer environmental protection, and we subsequently measure this protective ability to various stressors, including heat, low ionic strength solution, organic solvents, and unprotected freezing. By soaking metal ions and dyes into the lattice after silica coating, we demonstrate that the crystals maintain their pores and that the major groove of the DNA can still be used as a sequence-specific template for chemical reactions. We image a library of different crystal motifs by electron microscopy, and we perform X-ray diffraction on these crystals, both with and without cryoprotection, to determine the structure of the DNA frame, underscoring the conserved molecular order after coating. We anticipate these mesoporous silica composites will find use in applications involving extreme, nonphysiological conditions and in experiments which utilize the DNA glass described here as a template for chemical reactions on the internal surface of architected materials.
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, International Centre for Diffraction Data, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University, Office of Naval Research, Division of Materials Research, Basic Energy Sciences
Awards: G1028383621, G1472743852, G1810771172, G2026373289, G2199371856, GCR: Rational Design of Topological Insulators using Atomically-Precise DNA Self-Assembly, MRI: Acquisition of a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope, G4588712815, G6225169995, NYU Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, SELF-ASSEMBLY AND SELF-REPLICATION OF NOVEL MATERIALS FROM PARTICLES WITH SPECIFIC RECOGNITION, G821361635, G8985092086
OpenAlex ID: W4415783970