Super-compressible DNA nanoparticle lattices

The compression properties of DNA-nanoparticle assemblies were studied by measuring their response to the applied osmotic pressure. The lattices of nanoparticles interconnected with DNA exhibit an isotropic transformation under compression with a remarkably strong decrease of the lattice constant, up to a factor of about 1.8, corresponding to more than 80% of the volume reduction. Using insitu small angle X-ray scattering and optical microscopy, we probe the DNA-induced effective interparticle interactions by measuring the macroscopic and nanoscale compression behaviours as a function of the applied osmotic stress. The force field extracted from experimental data can be well described by a theoretical model that takes into account confinement of DNA chains in the interstitial regions. We show that compression properties of these systems can be tuned via DNA molecular design.