Although advances in nanotechnology have enabled the construction of complex and functional synthetic nucleic acid–based nanoarchitectures, high-resolution discrete structures are lacking because of the difficulty in obtaining good diffracting crystals. Here, we report the design and construction of RNA nanostructures based on homooligomerizable one-stranded tiles for x-ray crystallographic determination. We solved three structures to near-atomic resolution: a 2D parallelogram, a 3D nanobracelet unexpectedly formed from an RNA designed for a nanocage, and, eventually, a bona fide 3D nanocage designed with the guidance of the two previous structures. Structural details of their constituent motifs, such as kissing loops, branched kissing loops, and T-junctions, that resemble natural RNA motifs and resisted x-ray determination are revealed, providing insights into those natural motifs. This work unveils the largely unexplored potential of crystallography in gaining high-resolution feedback for nanoarchitectural design and suggests a route to investigate RNA motif structures by configuring them into nanoarchitectures.

中文翻译：

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近原子分辨率下人工设计的离散 RNA 纳米结构的结构

尽管纳米技术的进步使得复杂和功能性的基于合成核酸的纳米结构的构建成为可能，但由于难以获得良好的衍射晶体，因此缺乏高分辨率的离散结构。在这里，我们报告了 RNA 纳米结构的设计和构建，该结构基于用于 X 射线晶体学测定的可同聚化单链拼块。我们以近原子分辨率解​​决了三种结构：2D 平行四边形、由为纳米笼设计的 RNA 意外形成的 3D 纳米手链，以及最终在前两种结构的指导下设计的真正的 3D 纳米笼。它们的组成基序的结构细节，例如接吻环、分支接吻环和 T 形接头，类似于天然 RNA 基序和抗 X 射线测定，提供对这些自然图案的见解。这项工作揭示了晶体学在获得纳米结构设计的高分辨率反馈方面的巨大潜力，并提出了一种通过将 RNA 基序结构配置成纳米结构来研究它们的途径。