DNA Origami Design of Dolphin-Shaped Structures with Flexible Tails

The DNA origami method allows the folding of long, single-stranded DNA sequences into arbitrary two-dimensional structures by a set of designed oligonucleotides. The method has revealed an unexpected strength and efficiency for programmed self-assembly of molecular nanostructures and makes it possible to produce fully addressable nanostructures with wide-reaching application potential within the emerging area of nanoscience. Here we present a user-friendly software package for designing DNA origami structures (http://www.cdna.dk/origami) and demonstrate its use by the design of a dolphin-like DNA origami structure that was imaged by high-resolution AFM in liquid. The software package provides automatic generation of DNA origami structures, manual editing, interactive overviews, atomic models, tracks the design history, and has a fully extendable toolbox. From the AFM images, it was demonstrated that different designs of the dolphin tail region provided various levels of flexibility in a predictable fashion. Finally, we show that the addition of specific attachment sites promotes dimerization between two independently self-assembled dolphin structures, and that these interactions stabilize the flexible tail.