Meta-DNA Strand Displacement for Sub-Micron-Scale Autonomous Reconfiguration

Dynamicmolecular interactions in chemical reaction networks leadto complex behaviors in living systems. Whereas recent advances inprogramming DNA molecular reactions have reached a high level of complexityat molecular and nanometer scales, achieving programmable autonomousbehavior at submicron or even larger scales remains challenging. Here,we present a mechanism of meta-DNA strand displacement reactions (M-SDRs)that is mediated solely by meta-toehold (M-toehold) using versatilesubmicron building blocks of meta-DNA (M-DNA). M-SDR emulates thetoehold binding and branch migration processes of conventional stranddisplacement. Importantly, the kinetics of M-SDR can be modulatedover a range of five orders of magnitude reaching a maximum rate ofabout 1.62 x 10(5) M-1 s(-1). Further, we demonstrate the use of M-SDR to program autonomousreconfiguration in information transmission and logical computationsystems. We envision that M-SDR serves as a versatile mechanism foremulating autonomous behavior approaching the cellular level.

Automated summary

Dynamic molecular interactions in chemical reaction networks lead to complex behaviors in living systems. Programming DNA molecular reactions at molecular and nanometer scales have been achieved, but achieving programmable autonomous behavior at submicron or larger scales remains challenging. This study presents a mechanism of meta-DNA strand displacement reactions (M-SDRs) mediated solely by meta-toehold (M-toehold) using versatile submicron building blocks of meta-DNA (M-DNA). M-SDR emulates the toehold binding and branch migration processes and shows potential for programming autonomous behavior at the cellular level.