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Scalable Molecular Engineering with Self-Replicating DNA Origami

Introduction

In the field of nanotechnology, the ability to design and build complex molecular structures with precision is critical to unlocking new applications in areas such as drug delivery, diagnostics, and molecular computing. However, traditional fabrication methods can be costly, labor-intensive, and difficult to scale. Our patented self-replicating nucleic acid origami tiles offer a breakthrough in molecular engineering, enabling the autonomous and scalable replication of DNA-based structures. This innovation provides a versatile platform for researchers, biotechnologists, and pharmaceutical companies looking to create sophisticated molecular systems more efficiently.

Limitations in Traditional Molecular Fabrication

The concept of DNA origami—where DNA strands are folded into specific shapes and structures—has proven highly effective in the design of nanoscale devices. However, one of the biggest challenges in DNA origami and molecular engineering is scalability. Current methods require significant manual input for the construction of each individual structure, making it difficult to produce large quantities of complex molecules. For applications such as targeted drug delivery, biosensing, or molecular computing, the ability to mass-produce DNA-based devices is essential for both research and commercial deployment.

Moreover, traditional methods of molecular self-assembly often lack the ability to autonomously replicate the designed structures, which limits their use in dynamic environments that require adaptability and growth over time.

Self-Replicating DNA Origami: A Game-Changer for Molecular Systems

Our patented self-replication technology for nucleic acid origami tiles addresses these limitations by enabling the autonomous replication of designed DNA structures. Through a carefully engineered process, these origami tiles are programmed to self-replicate, generating identical copies of the initial structure. This self-replication ability not only enhances scalability but also allows for the continuous generation of complex molecular systems in real-time, making it an ideal solution for applications requiring large quantities of nanoscale devices.

The potential applications of this technology are vast. In the pharmaceutical industry, it can be used to create programmable drug delivery systems that replicate themselves as needed. In molecular diagnostics, it enables the development of dynamic biosensors that continuously produce signal-enhancing nanostructures. Additionally, in the field of synthetic biology, this system can be used to engineer self-replicating biological systems for advanced research and therapeutic applications.

Key Benefits

  • Scalable Molecular Fabrication: Enables the mass production of DNA-based nanostructures through autonomous self-replication, reducing labor and time.
  • Versatile Applications: Suitable for drug delivery systems, biosensing, molecular computing, and synthetic biology research.
  • Cost-Effective: Self-replication reduces the need for manual input and complex assembly processes, lowering production costs.
  • Dynamic Adaptability: Allows for the continuous generation of nanostructures, making it ideal for environments requiring real-time adaptability.

Building the Future of Molecular Engineering with Self-Replication

Licensing this self-replicating DNA origami technology offers companies in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and pharmaceuticals a cutting-edge tool for advancing molecular engineering. By enabling scalable, cost-effective, and autonomous replication of DNA structures, this innovation opens new doors for developing sophisticated molecular devices and systems that can impact a wide range of industries.

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The present invention provides a method for self-replication of multimers of nucleic acid origami tiles by exponentially amplifying the multimer from initial seeds of monomeric units of nucleic acid origami tiles and also provides for the selective exponential amplification of a designated multimer, such as with specific properties or characteristics, over one or more competing multimers in the presence of a mixture of monomers for each of the possible multimers. The selection of the designated multimer based on an environmental change allows the designated multimer to outgrow all competing multimers.

What is claimed is:

1. A method for exponential self-replication of nucleic acid origami tiles, comprising:

(i) providing a set of monomers of seed nucleic acid origami tiles, monomers of first generation daughter nucleic acid origami tiles and monomers of second generation daughter nucleic acid origami tiles, each monomer having a long scaffold strand that is folded by a plurality of short staple strands into an origami tile structure having a plurality of horizontal edges and a plurality of faces, with a plurality of sticky cohesive ends protruding from one or more horizontal edges of the tiles and from one or more faces of the tiles;
(ii) forming a multimer from monomers of seed nucleic acid origami tiles by cohesion of complementary horizontal sticky cohesive ends between the edge of one monomer to the edge of another monomer;
(iii) mixing the resulting multimer of seed tiles with monomers of first generation daughter (1G) tiles to allow the monomers to anneal to each other by horizontal sticky end cohesion between edges of adjacent 1G monomeric tiles, as enhanced by the 1G monomers first annealing to the multimer of seed tiles by vertical sticky end cohesion between sticky cohesive ends protruding from the faces of adjacent seed and 1G tiles, to form a stacked multimer of seed and 1G tiles;
(iv) covalently linking the 1G tiles which are in sticky end cohesion with each other in the stacked multimer;
(v) heating to denature the horizontal sticky end cohesion between monomers of seed tiles and the vertical sticky end cohesion between monomers of seed tiles and 1G tiles to separate the heat resistant covalently linked 1G tiles as a multimer of 1G tiles;
(vi) mixing the multimer of covalently linked 1G tiles with monomers of second generation daughter (2G) tiles to allow the monomers to anneal to each other by horizontal sticky end cohesion between edges of adjacent 2G monomeric tiles, as enhanced by the 2G monomers first annealing to the multimer of covalently linked 1G tiles by vertical sticky end cohesion between sticky cohesive ends protruding from the faces of adjacent 1G and 2G tiles, to form a stacked multimer of 1G and 2G tiles;
(vii) covalently linking the 2G tiles which are in sticky end cohesion with each other in the stacked multimer;
(viii) heating to denature the vertical sticky end cohesion between the multimer of 1G tiles and the multimer of 2G tiles in the stacked multimer to separate the multimers of covalently linked 1G tiles and covalently linked 2G tiles;
(ix) incubating the separated multimers with monomers of 1G tiles and 2G tiles to allow the monomers of 1G and 2G tiles to anneal respectively to other 1G and 2G monomers by horizontal sticky end cohesion between edges of adjacent monomers tiles and to a multimer of covalently linked 1G or 2G tiles by vertical sticky end cohesion between sticky cohesive ends protruding from the faces of adjacent 1G and 2G tiles to form stacked multimers of 1G and 2G tiles;
(x) for 1G and 2G tiles not already covalently linked, covalently linking 1G tiles in horizontal sticky end cohesion to each other and covalently link 2G tiles in horizontal sticky end cohesion to each other in the stacked multimers;
(xi) heating to denature the vertical sticky end cohesion between multimers of covalently linked 1G tiles and multimers of covalently linked 2G tiles;
(xii) repeating steps (ix)-(xi) one or more times to self-replicate and exponentially amplify multimers of nucleic acid origami tiles.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the nucleic acid origami tiles are DNA origami tiles.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein, in step (ix) or in one of the repetitions thereof in (xii), additional amounts of monomers of 1G and 2G tiles are added and mixed with the separated multimers of 1G and 2G tiles.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the monomers of seed, 1G and 2G tiles are substantially two dimensional with a top and bottom face/surface.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the monomers are rectangular.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein a hairpin formed from a nucleic acid strand protrudes perpendicularly from a face of the monomer.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein a pendant molecule or moiety is attached to the hairpin.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the covalently linked 1G and 2G tiles are from photo-crosslinking.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the photo-crosslinking is with a 3-cyanovinylcarbazole nucleoside.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising monomers of one or more different sets of seed, 1G and 2G daughter tiles are provided in the same self-replication mixture to selectively amplify a nucleic acid multimer over competing monomers and multimers from the other set(s).
11. The method of claim 10, wherein, for each of the different set(s) of tiles, the monomers each have a sticky cohesive end, which is necessary for forming a multimer, labeled with a different near-infrared dye that produces light-activated local heat generation at a specific wavelength that is different from those of the dyes on competing monomers and multimers of the other sets of tiles.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising irradiating the tiles at one or more different wavelengths to effect light-activated local heat generation, thereby suppressing sticky end cohesion of competing monomers labeled with dyes that are light-activated at the one or more wavelengths to selectively amplify a multimer in which sticky end cohesion is not suppressed.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein:

each monomer is substantially two dimensional with a top and bottom face and at least three horizontal edges;
at least one edge of each monomer has a plurality of protruding single stranded nucleic acid ends that serve as sticky ends for annealing to complementary single stranded nucleic acid ends of another monomer so as to form adjacent monomers joined by sticky end cohesion; and
the top or bottom face of each monomer has a plurality of single stranded nucleic acid ends that protrude perpendicularly from the plane of the substantially two dimensional monomer (monomeric tile); and the monomers of seed tiles differ from monomers of 1G tiles in the nature of the plurality of single stranded nucleic acid ends that serve as sticky ends for annealing to complementary nucleic acid ends of another monomer.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein:

in step (ii), the multimer of seed tiles is formed in a plane with a top and bottom face from the monomers of seed tiles through the annealing of a plurality of sticky ends with nucleic acid sequence complementarity at the adjacent edges of monomeric seed tiles; and the plurality of single stranded nucleic acid ends that protrude perpendicularly from the top or bottom face of each monomeric seed tile are on the same face of the multimer of seed tiles;
in step (iii), the formed multimer of seed tiles is mixed with monomers of 1G tiles and the monomers of 1G tiles are allowed to anneal to each other and to the multimer of seed tiles to form a stacked multimer of seed and 1G tiles that serves as a first recognition complex for self-replication, wherein:
the annealing of monomers of 1G tiles to each other through sequence complementarity between the plurality of protruding single stranded ends at the edges of adjacent monomeric 1G tiles forms a multimer of 1G tiles in a plane with a top and bottom face;
the plurality of single stranded nucleic acid ends protruding perpendicularly from the plane of the substantially two dimensional monomeric 1G tiles are on the same face of the multimer of 1G tiles; and
the annealing of monomers of 1G tiles to the monomeric seed tiles in the multimer of seed tiles is through sequence complementarity between the plurality of single stranded nucleic acid ends that protrude perpendicularly from the planes of the monomeric daughter tiles and the monomeric seed tiles so as to form the stacked multimer in which the plane of the multimer of seed tiles is parallel to the plane of the multimer of 1G tiles and joined thereto by sticky end cohesion;
in step (iv), at least two of the plurality of annealed sticky ends between adjacent monomers in the multimer of daughter tiles forming the first recognition complex are allowed to react to covalently link with complementary strands in the at least two annealed sticky ends so as to be resistant to heat denaturation at a melting temperature (Tm) which denatures the sticky end cohesion between the monomers of seed tiles and monomers of 1G tiles;
in step (v), the sticky end cohesion between monomers of seed tiles and monomers of 1G tiles is denatured by heating at the Tm so as to separate the multimer of 1G tiles, which is resistant to heat denaturation, from the multimer of seed tiles to release the multimers of the first recognition complex;
in step (vi), the heat resistant multimer of 1G tiles are allowed to anneal with monomers of 2G tiles and the monomers of 2G tiles are allowed to anneal to each other to form a second stacked multimer of 1G and 2G tiles that serves as a second recognition complex for self-replication, wherein:
monomers of 2G tiles are annealed to each other through sequence complementarity between the plurality of protruding single stranded ends at the edges of adjacent monomeric 2G tiles to form a multimer of 2G tiles in a plane with a top and bottom face;
the plurality of single stranded nucleic acid ends protruding perpendicularly from the plane of the substantially two dimensional monomeric 2G tiles are on the same face of the multimer of 2G tiles; and
the monomers of 2G tiles are annealed to the monomeric 1G tiles in the heat resistant multimer of 1G tiles through sequence complementarity between the plurality of single stranded nucleic acid ends that protrude perpendicularly from the planes of the monomeric 2G tiles and the monomeric 1G tiles so as to form the second stacked multimer in which the plane of the heat resistant multimer of 1G tiles is parallel to the plane of the multimer of 2G tiles and joined thereto by sticky end cohesion;
in step (vii), at least two of the plurality of annealed sticky ends between adjacent monomers in the multimer of 2G tiles forming the second recognition complex are allowed to react to covalently link the complementary strands in the at least two annealed sticky ends together so as to be resistant to heat denaturation at the Tm which denatures the sticky end cohesion between the monomers of the 1G tiles and monomers of 2G tiles;
in step (viii), the sticky end cohesion between the heat resistant multimer of 1G tiles in one plane and the heat resistant multimer of 2G tiles in a second parallel plane is denatured by heating at the Tm to separate the heat resistant multimer of 2G tiles from the heat resistant multimer of 1G tiles to release the heat resistant multimers of 1G and 2G tiles from the second recognition complex;
in step (ix), the heat resistant multimer of 1G tiles and the heat resistant multimer of 2G tiles obtained from step (viii) are mixed with monomers of 1G tiles and 2G tiles with monomers of 1G tiles being allowed to anneal to each other and to the heat resistant multimer of 2G tiles and monomers of 2G tiles being allowed to anneal to each other and to heat resistant multimers of 1G tiles, both forming the second stacked multimer that serves as the second recognition complex, wherein
the monomers of 1G and 2G tiles are annealed to corresponding monomers of 1G and 2G tiles through sequence complementarity between the plurality of protruding single stranded ends at the edges of adjacent monomeric 1G or 2G tiles to form a multimer of 1G tiles and a multimer of 2G tiles, both of which have a plane with a top and bottom face;
the plurality of single stranded nucleic acid ends protruding perpendicularly from the plane of the substantially two dimensional monomeric 1G tiles and the plane of the substantially two dimensional monomeric 2G tiles are on the same face of the multimer of 1G tiles and the multimer of 2G tiles, respectively; and
the monomers of 1G or 2G tiles are annealed respectively to the monomeric 2G or 1G tiles in the multimer of 2G or 1G tiles through sequence complementarity between the plurality of single stranded nucleic acid ends that protrude perpendicularly from the planes of the monomeric 1G tiles and the monomeric 2G tiles so as to form the second stacked multimer in which the plane of the multimer of 2G tiles is parallel to the plane of the multimer of 1G tiles and joined thereto by sticky end cohesion;
(x) at least two of the plurality of annealed sticky ends between adjacent monomers in the multimer of 1G tiles and in the multimer of 2G tiles in the second recognition complex are allowed to react to covalently link the complementary strands in the at least two annealed sticky ends together so as to be resistant to heat denaturation at the Tm which denatures the vertical sticky end cohesion between monomers of 1G tiles and monomers of 2G tiles;
(xi) the sticky end cohesion between the heat resistant multimer of 1G tiles in one plane and the heat resistant multimer of 2G tiles in a second parallel plane is denatured by heating at the Tm to separate the heat resistant multimers and release them from the second recognition complex;
(xii) repeating steps (ix)-(xi) one or more times to self-replicate and exponentially amplify multimers of 1G and 2G tiles.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein:

each monomer is a rectangle with four horizontal edges;
each monomer has eight single stranded nucleic acid ends that protrude perpendicularly from the same face of the substantially two dimensional rectangular tile for vertical sticky end cohesion to the complementary single stranded nucleic acid ends of another monomeric tile;
each monomer of seed tiles has eight horizontal single stranded nucleic acid ends at one edge of the substantially two dimensional rectangular seed tile for horizontal sticky end cohesion to the complementary single stranded nucleic acid ends of another monomeric seed tile; and
each monomer of 1G and 2G tiles has six horizontal single stranded nucleic acid ends at each of two opposing edges of the substantially two dimensional rectangular 1G or 2G tile for horizontal sticky end cohesion to the complementary single stranded nucleic acid ends of, respectively, another monomeric 1G or 2G tile, with four of the six horizontal single stranded nucleic acid ends on one edge having a 3-cyanovinylcarbazole nucleoside for photo-crosslinking to the complementary single stranded nucleic acid ends of an adjacent monomer.
16. The method of claim 4, wherein the monomers are planar.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the monomers are planar DNA origami tiles having a scaffold strand in the range of 5-10 kb in size.
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Title

Self-replication of nucleic acid origami tiles

Inventor(s)

Xiaojin He, Ruojie Sha, Yongli Mi, Paul Chaikin, Nadrian C. Seeman

Assignee(s)

New York University NYU

Patent #

10513535

Patent Date

December 24, 2019

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