Making of Error Free Nanostructure using Protein “Rebar” which is better than DNA Origami

Strands of DNA can fit together like Lego blocks to make nanoscale objects of complex shape and structure. So DNA is also the stuff of nanotechnology. To realize a key goal: building durable miniature devices such as biosensors and drug-delivery containers, researchers need to work with much larger collections of DNA which is been difficult because Floppiness of long chains of DNA  and the standard method of assembling long chains is prone to error.

RecA, the DNA binding proteins are useful as a kind reinforcing bar, to support the floppy DNA scaffolding by constructing several of the largest rectangular, linear and other shapes which have ever assembled from DNA by the researchers of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) .these are two to three times larger than those built using standard DNA self-assembly techniques. Reduction of the number of errors in constructing the shapes is required by using fewer chemically distinct pieces to build organized structures which are known as DNA origami.

The NIST scientists integrated filaments of RecA into the assembly of DNA structures. The advantage is it automatically attracts other units to line up alongside it if Once one unit of the protein binds to a small segment of double-stranded DNA. RecA stretches, widens and strengthens the DNA strands for which 2-nanometer-wide strand of DNA can transform into a rigid structure more than four times as wide. The RecA method greatly extends the ability of DNA self-assembly methods to build larger and more sophisticated structures.

In DNA origami, short strands of DNA with particular sequence of four base pairs are used as staples to tie together in long sections of DNA. By quickly using up the long string, the strand may loop back on itself to make the skinny DNA skeleton stronger and thicker. The new method goes beyond the DNA origami techniques. The skinny piece of single-stranded DNA lies in between the location of the short, single-stranded pieces of DNA that act as staples mark. A section of the long piece of single-stranded DNA into the double-stranded version of the molecule is transformed by the enzyme DNA polymerase.

RecA assembles all along the double strand and limiting the need for extra staples to maintain its shape. RecA method is likely able to build organized structures with fewer errors than DNA origami with the use of fewer staple.