Xu, Anqin
(2020)
Chemistry Meets DNA Nanostructures.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Since N. C. Seeman proposed the first DNA tile structure, the concept of using DNA to construct mechanically robust nanostructure got remarkably developed in the past 40 years. Arbitrary 2D and 3D DNA nanostructures have been designed and synthesized, with size ranging from nanometer to micrometer scale. These DNA nanostructures, with the abundant varieties of modifications available, have demonstrated their applications in biosensing, drug delivery and nanofabrication.
In this dissertation, I have demonstrated several approaches to chemically modify DNA nanostructures that are motived by their potential applications. Chapter 2 focuses on the effect of chemical modification of DNA nanostructures on the nanoscale pattern transfer using HF etching of SiO2. The unmodified DNA templates produced negative-tone patterns on SiO2 substrate with ca. 27 nm in depth (high contrast) and ca. 22 nm in width (high resolution). Streptavidin molecules were able to locally promote the HF etching reaction, increasing the vertical contrast of the transferred pattern by 35%. Chapter 3 reports the investigation of the stability and reusability of DNA nanostructure templates after the HF etching negative-tone pattern transfer process. With the help of fluorescence microscopy and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system, it was confirmed that DNA nanostructures could be preserved after pattern transfer reaction and be potentially reused for future nanofabrication process. Chapter 4 presents the deposition of DNA nanostructures onto highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) from an aqueous buffer solution. The factors that affected the deposition process were investigated and the DNA nanostructures were used as templates for site-selective chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of SiO2 on HOPG. Chapter 5 demonstrates the design and synthesis of a photochemical active DNA tetrahedron structure with sub-10 nm size through an easy, one-step annealing reaction. This photochemical active DNA tetrahedron can be potentially applied for selective and controlled molecule encapsulation and delivery using UV light activation. I hope this dissertation will provide more insight into the applications of DNA nanostructures and will serve as a stepping stone for the future development of DNA nanotechnology
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
| Title | Member | Email Address | Pitt Username | ORCID |
|---|
| Committee Chair | Liu, Haitao | | | | | Committee Member | Meyer, Tara | | | | | Committee Member | Hernández Sánchez, Raúl | | | | | Committee Member | Li, Lei | | | |
|
| Date: |
16 January 2020 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
7 October 2019 |
| Approval Date: |
16 January 2020 |
| Submission Date: |
13 September 2019 |
| Access Restriction: |
2 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 2 years. |
| Number of Pages: |
247 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Chemistry |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
DNA Nanotechnology, DNA Nanostructures, DNA Origami, Nanofabrication |
| Date Deposited: |
16 Jan 2020 19:57 |
| Last Modified: |
16 Jan 2022 06:15 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/37637 |
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