Topographical features enhance DNA tetrahedron biostability

Abstract

Stabilization of nucleic acid-based systems is critical for their clinical translation in biomedical applications. Here, we integrated hairpins within the edges of a DNA tetrahedron and studied the stabilization induced by these motifs against nucleases. We show that nuclease resistance of DNA tetrahedra increased with the number of hairpins in the structure, this biostability enhancement is specific to the sequences within the hairpin. Our study provides a new design approach to create nucleic acid nanostructures with inherent biostability.