DNA nanostructures have attracted considerable attention as drug delivery carriers. However, the transmembrane kinetics of DNA nanostructures remains less explored. Herein, the dynamic process of transporting single tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs) is monitored in real time using a force‐tracing technique based on atomic force microscopy. The results show that transporting single TDNs into living HeLa cells need ≈53 pN force and ≈25 ms duration with the average speed of ≈0.6 µm s⁻¹. Interestingly, the dynamic parameters are irrelevant to the size of TDNs, while the larger TDNs rotated slightly during the transporting process. Meanwhile, both the results from single‐molecule force tracing and ensemble fluorescence imaging demonstrate that the different size TDNs transmembrane transporting depends on caveolin‐mediated endocytosis.

中文翻译：

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单个四面体 DNA 纳米结构的尺寸无关跨膜运输。

DNA纳米结构作为药物输送载体引起了人们的广泛关注。然而，DNA 纳米结构的跨膜动力学研究仍然较少。在此，使用基于原子力显微镜的力追踪技术实时监测单个四面体 DNA 纳米结构 (TDN) 的动态传输过程。结果表明，将单个 TDN 转运到活 HeLa 细胞中需要约 53 pN 的力和约 25 ms 的持续时间，平均速度约 0.6 µm s ^-1。有趣的是，动态参数与 TDN 的大小无关，而较大的 TDN 在传输过程中会轻微旋转。同时，单分子力追踪和整体荧光成像的结果都表明，不同大小的TDNs跨膜运输依赖于caveolin介导的内吞作用。