PubReading [4] Triplex-forming oligonucleotides: a third strand for DNA nanotechnology - Arun Chandrasekaran, David Rusling - Nucleic Acids Research

<p><strong>DNA self-assembly</strong> has proved to be a useful bottom- up strategy for the construction of user-defined nanoscale objects, lattices and devices. The design of these structures has largely relied on exploiting simple base-pairing rules and the formation of double-helical domains as secondary structural elements. However, other helical forms involving specific <strong>non-canonical base-base interactions</strong> have introduced a novel paradigm into the process of engineering with DNA. The most notable of these is a three-stranded complex generated by the binding of a third strand within the duplex major groove, generating a triple-helical (‘triplex’) structure. The sequence, structural and assembly requirements that differentiate triplexes from their duplex counterparts has allowed the design of <strong>nanostructures</strong> for both dynamic and/or structural purposes, as well as a means to target non-nucleic acid components to precise locations within a nanostructure <strong>scaffold</strong>. Here, we review the properties of triplexes that have proved useful in the engineering of DNA nanostructures, with an emphasis on applications that hitherto have not been possible by duplex formation alone. <em>Arun Chandrasekaran, David Rusling - doi: 10.1093/nar/gkx1230 - 2018</em></p>