Realizing mechanical frustration at the nanoscale using DNA origami

Anirudh S. Madhvacharyula, Ruixin Li, Alexander A. Swett, Yancheng Du, Seongmin Seo, Friedrich C. Simmel and Jong Hyun Choi ()
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Anirudh S. Madhvacharyula: Purdue University
Ruixin Li: Purdue University
Alexander A. Swett: Purdue University
Yancheng Du: Purdue University
Seongmin Seo: Purdue University
Friedrich C. Simmel: Technical University of Munich
Jong Hyun Choi: Purdue University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Structural designs inspired by physical and biological systems have been previously utilized to develop mechanical metamaterials with enhanced properties based on clever geometric arrangement of constituent building blocks. Here, we use the DNA origami method to realize a nanoscale metastructure exhibiting mechanical frustration, a counterpart of the well-known phenomenon of magnetic frustration. By selectively actuating reconfigurable struts, it adopts either frustrated or non-frustrated states, each characterized by distinct free energy profiles. While the non-frustrated state distributes the strain homogeneously, the frustrated mode concentrates it at a specific location. Molecular dynamics simulations reconcile the contrasting behaviors and provide insights into underlying mechanics. We explore the design space further by tailoring responses through structural modifications. Our work combines programmable DNA self-assembly with mechanical design principles to overcome engineering limitations encountered at the macroscale to design dynamic, deformable nanostructures with potential applications in elastic energy storage, nanomechanical computation, and allosteric mechanisms in DNA-based nanomachinery.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60492-z

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