Mechanically rigid supramolecular assemblies formed from an Fmoc-guanine conjugated peptide nucleic acid.

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Source:

Nat Commun, Volume 10, Issue 1, p.5256 (2019)

Abstract:

<p>The variety and complexity of DNA-based structures make them attractive candidates for nanotechnology, yet insufficient stability and mechanical rigidity, compared to polyamide-based molecules, limit their application. Here, we combine the advantages of polyamide materials and the structural patterns inspired by nucleic-acids to generate a mechanically rigid fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-guanine peptide nucleic acid (PNA) conjugate with diverse morphology and photoluminescent properties. The assembly possesses a unique atomic structure, with each guanine head of one molecule hydrogen bonded to the Fmoc carbonyl tail of another molecule, generating a non-planar cyclic quartet arrangement. This structure exhibits an average stiffness of 69.6&thinsp;&plusmn;&thinsp;6.8&thinsp;N&thinsp;m and Young&#39;s modulus of 17.8&thinsp;&plusmn;&thinsp;2.5&thinsp;GPa, higher than any previously reported nucleic acid derived structure. This data suggests that the unique cation-free &quot;basket&quot; formed by the Fmoc-G-PNA conjugate can serve as an attractive component for the design of new materials based on PNA self-assembly for nanotechnology applications.</p>

PDB: 
CCDC-1906101
Detector: 
PILATUS
Beamline: 
24-ID-C