Synergistic self-assembly of RNA and DNA molecules

DNA has recently been used as a programmable 'smart' building block for the assembly of a wide range of nanostructures. It remains difficult, however, to construct DNA assemblies that are also functional. Incorporating RNA is a promising strategy to circumvent this issue as RNA is structurally related to DNA but exhibits rich chemical, structural and functional diversities. However, only a few examples of rationally designed RNA structures have been reported. Herein, we describe a simple, general strategy for the de novo design of nanostructures in which the self-assembly of RNA strands is programmed by DNA strands. To demonstrate the versatility of this approach, we have designed and constructed three different RNA-DNA hybrid branched nanomotifs (tiles), which readily assemble into one-dimensional nanofibres, extended two-dimensional arrays and a discrete three-dimensional object. The current strategy could enable the integration of the precise programmability of DNA with the rich functionality of RNA.