Nanomechanics of Self-Assembled DNA Structures

脱氧核糖核酸（DNA）携带遗传信息，是生命的重要组成部分之一。最近，DNA已被探索作为构建复杂纳米结构的工程工具。现在可以从计算机上创建的设计中创建高度有序的可编程DNA结构，否则可能无法制造。然而，自组装DNA结构的机械性质在很大程度上是未知的，它们不同于单个DNA分子的机械性质。该奖项支持阐明DNA纳米结构力学的基础研究。更好地理解纳米力学将为设计结构坚固的材料或动态DNA器件奠定坚实的基础，这些材料或动态DNA器件可用于广泛的工程应用。这项研究结合了材料力学和结构DNA纳米技术两个不同的领域。这个跨学科的计划将有助于扩大研究中代表性不足的群体的参与，并促进公众对可编程生物分子材料的理解。DNA折纸是设计和构建具有纳米级精度的复杂几何形状的可编程结构的强大方法。然而，我们缺乏理解和预测其机械性能的能力，这是阻止基于合成DNA的组装作为工程工具广泛应用的主要限制之一。研究小组将进行实验，以表征各种DNA折纸结构的弹性，弯曲和扭转刚度。重点将是阐明结构-力学性能的关系。一个基于物理的模型将被开发来描述的机制和结构的灵活性和刚性的来源。最终，这项研究将建立理解和预测DNA纳米结构机械性能的一般原则。

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) carries genetic information and is one of the essential components of life. Recently, DNA has been explored as engineering tools to construct complex nanostructures. It is now possible to create highly ordered, programmable DNA structures from designs created on a computer, which may not be manufactured otherwise. However, the mechanical properties of self-assembled DNA structures are largely unknown and they are different from those of individual DNA molecules. This award supports fundamental research to elucidate the mechanics of DNA nanostructures. A better understanding of the nanomechanics will lay a strong foundation to design structurally robust materials or dynamic DNA devices which may be used in a wide range of engineering applications. This research combines two distinct areas in mechanics of materials and structural DNA nanotechnology. This interdisciplinary program will help broaden participation of underrepresented groups in research and advance the public understanding of programmable biomolecular materials. DNA origami is a powerful approach of designing and constructing programmable structures of complex geometry with nanometer-scale precision. However, our ability to understand and predict their mechanical properties is lacking, which is one of the major limitations that prevent widespread applications of synthetic DNA-based assembly as engineering tools. The research team will perform experiments to characterize elastic, bending, and torsional rigidity of various DNA origami structures. The focus will be to elucidate the structure-mechanical property relationship. A physics-based model will be developed to describe the mechanisms and the sources of structural flexibility and rigidity. Ultimately, this research will establish general principles to understand and predict the mechanical properties of DNA nanostructures.