Dynamic regulation of DNA nanostructures by noncanonical nucleic acids

Abstract

DNA nanostructures are among the most fascinating self-assembled nanostructures in diverse areas of science and technology, because of their nanoscale precision in biomolecule and nanoparticle organization. The implementation of dynamic and spatial regulation in structural morphology and hierarchical assembly upon specific external stimuli will greatly expand their applications in biocomputation, clinical diagnosis, and cancer therapy. Recently, noncanonical nucleic acids, particularly DNA triplexes, i-motifs, and G-quadruplexes, have become powerful tools for biosensing and mechanical switching. Developments in incorporating stimuli-responsive noncanonical nucleic acids into DNA nanostructures provide a promising approach to regulating the spatial organization and hierarchical assembly of DNA nanostructures. In this review, we briefly introduce recent progress in constructing DNA nanostructures with dynamic regulation of the structural transformation and programmable assembly pathways at the nanometer scale by noncanonical nucleic acids and discuss their potential applications and challenges.