Site-directed placement of three-dimensional DNA origami

Irina V. Martynenko, Elisabeth Erber, Veronika Ruider, Mihir Dass, Gregor Posnjak, Xin Yin, Philipp Altpeter & Tim Liedl

Nature Nanotechnology (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-023-01487-z

The combination of lithographic methods with two-dimensional DNA origami self-assembly has led, among others, to the development of photonic crystal cavity arrays and the exploration of sensing nanoarrays where molecular devices are patterned on the sub-micrometre scale. Here we extend this concept to the third dimension by mounting three-dimensional DNA origami onto nanopatterned substrates, followed by silicification to provide hybrid DNA–silica structures exhibiting mechanical and chemical stability and achieving feature sizes in the sub-10-nm regime. Our versatile and scalable method relying on self-assembly at ambient temperatures offers the potential to three-dimensionally position any inorganic and organic components compatible with DNA origami nanoarchitecture, demonstrated here with gold nanoparticles. This way of nanotexturing could provide a route for the low-cost production of complex and three-dimensionally patterned surfaces and integrated devices designed on the molecular level and reaching macroscopic dimensions.