Institute of Science Tokyo
Institute of Integrated Research
Department of Precision Biomedical Engineering, Laboratory for Biomaterials and Bioengineering (LBB)
Research Center for Autonomous Systems Materialogy (ASMat)

While DNA is a biological material that carries the genetic information necessary for living systems, it is also a biopolymer material whose length (number of bases) and arrangement of its constituent molecules can be freely designed. The four bases of DNA, adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C), form hydrogen bonds only with specific bases, A and T, G and C, respectively, and Watson-Crick They form a double helix structure called base pairs. Structural DNA nanotechnology is a method of designing and producing nanostructures that utilizes the fact that Watson-Crick base pairs form known structures.
DNA origami is one of the representative techniques of structural DNA nanotechnology, and because it can precisely fabricate various two-dimensional and three-dimensional nanostructures at the sub-nanoscale, it is useful not only for basic research but also for applied development. is also attracting attention. Using DNA origami, it is easy to make DNA nanostructures made from naturally hydrophilic DNA amphipathic by introducing hydrophobic groups into intended positions. The amphiphilized DNA nanostructures were found to accumulate at the interface of water droplets in oil to form capsules and function as a stabilizer to prevent the fusion of water droplets. In addition, the capsules formed by DNA nanostructures exhibited cell-like functions, such as the nanopores in the DNA nanostructures acting as ion channels [1,2].
We are developing DNA nanodevices that can be used in biological environments by using DNA origami to introduce not only hydrophobic groups but also organic molecules, enzymes, and metal nanoparticles into DNA nanostructures. Masu.