Synthesis of Stabilized Origami Structures

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Clemens Richert
• Subject Area: Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry
• Term: from 2013 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 247949624

The project proposed focuses on the synthesis of small, covalently locked origami structures. It builds on the power of modern DNA synthesis to generate designed functional entities of the size of protein complexes that are entirely synthetic and are thus prepared with ample control over the primary structure, including many xenobiotic functional groups. Designed nanostructures can readily be formed from DNA. Conventional DNA naostructures are limited to the functional groups of natural nucleotides and are labile, both thermally and mechanically. Covalent locks, introduced after assembly via hybridization, will be used to tackle these limitations. The focus will be on origami structures based on M1.3 as scaffold strand, 704 nucleotides in length. This scaffold will be elaborated from synthetic oligonucleotides. Staple strands will be synthesized that can be used for cross-linking, based on reactive nucleotides, incorporated during chain assembly. Thus, unimolecular, monodisperse and thermally stabilized units will be generated that have designed nanoscale three-dimensional structures. This includes a cylindrical origami structure with a cavity that may later be elaborated into an active site. Stabilized origami should be among the largest organic molecules that can be synthesized in monodisperse form. They may find application in the fields of molecular storage, catalysis, or diagnostics.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants