Issue 31, 2021

Superhelical DNA liquid crystals from dendrimer-induced DNA compaction

Abstract

Electrostatic compaction of double stranded DNA induced by a positively charged poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimer of generation four (G4) was found to produce two unique types of DNA mesophases, in which the DNA bent into superhelices packed in a tetragonal or hexagonal lattice. The structure formed at a lower dendrimer charge density was three-dimensionally (3D) ordered, as characterized by the P41212 space group with a 41 screw axis in a tetragonal arrangement, showing that the weakly bent DNA superhelices with a pitch length of ca. 5.0 nm possessed both identical handedness and phase conservation. The 3D ordered structure transformed into a 2D mesophase at a higher dendrimer charge density, wherein the strongly bent superhelices with a pitch length of ca. 4.0 nm organized in a hexagonal lattice without lateral coherence of helical trajectory. The counterion valency of the protonic acid that is used to charge the dendrimer was found to influence the phase diagram. Under a given dendrimer charge density, the complex with a multivalent acid-protonated dendrimer tended to form structures with less curved DNA, attesting that the driving force of charge matching was reduced by increasing the counterion valency of the dendrimer.

Graphical abstract: Superhelical DNA liquid crystals from dendrimer-induced DNA compaction

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Apr 2021
Accepted
05 Jul 2021
First published
05 Jul 2021

Soft Matter, 2021,17, 7287-7293

Superhelical DNA liquid crystals from dendrimer-induced DNA compaction

B. W. Mansel, C. Su, C. Chen, C. Young, Y. Huang, C. Yang and H. Chen, Soft Matter, 2021, 17, 7287 DOI: 10.1039/D1SM00547B

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