Dynamic DNA assemblies mediated by binding-induced DNA strand displacement

Abstract

Dynamic DNA assemblies, including catalytic DNA circuits, DNA nanomachines, molecular translators, and reconfigurable nanostructures, have shown promising potential to regulate cell functions, deliver therapeutic reagents, and amplify detection signals for molecular diagnostics and imaging. However, such applications of dynamic DNA assembly systems have been limited to nucleic acids and a few small molecules, due to the limited approaches to trigger the DNA assemblies. Herein, we describe a binding-induced DNA strand displacement strategy that can convert protein binding to the release of a predesigned output DNA at room temperature with high conversion efficiency and low background. This strategy allows us to construct dynamic DNA assembly systems that are able to respond to specific protein binding, opening an opportunity to initiate dynamic DNA assembly by proteins. © 2013 American Chemical Society.