3. Other Types of DNA Curtains
The technological design of conventional DNA curtains is implemented solely through the use of two fundamental components—SLBs and nanobarriers to the lateral diffusion of lipids. Nevertheless, they likewise confer several shortcomings on this next-generation SM approach. Preparation of lipid-bilayer-based systems may pose some experimental risks related to system stability and defect management. Meanwhile, nanofabrication of physical barriers, which can be executed by the diverse production methods discussed above, is time-consuming, technically challenging, and requires not only specific knowledge in the corresponding field of manufacturing, but also expensive equipment with limited availability. These limiting factors create the need for the development of innovative strategies for assembling DNA curtains in such a way that all the experimental capabilities offered by this platform would be completely retained, whilst banishing the aforementioned drawbacks.
Suspended DNA curtains are somewhat capable of fulfilling such requirements, as this type of DNA curtain provides a few significant advantages over the traditional ones, although it falls short of some basic features. In suspended DNA curtains, individual DNA molecules are, at first, attached to a gold nanowire, which bisects the microfluidic channel of a flow cell, via biotin-sAv interactions, and are then organized in a parallel manner by a buffer-flow-induced stretching
[81]. Since this nanowire is elevated, the DNA molecules coupled to it are suspended further away from the flow cell surface, which prevents the DNA molecules from non-specifically interacting with the surface and should, in theory, allow one to only observe those proteins that are bound to DNA. This kind of configuration also determines the overall lower buffer flow rates necessary to achieve the maximum extension of nanowire-tethered DNA molecules, as they experience a more rapid and uniform hydrodynamic flow due to the elevation. However, suspended DNA curtains are still hardly applicable for efficient studies of protein-DNA interactions since the assembling strategy, which this SM platform is based on, results in substantial overlapping of individual nanowire-anchored DNA molecules and, most importantly, it compromises the fundamental feature of DNA curtains—the high-throughput imaging capabilities offered by this technology.
Another type of these next-generation in vitro DNA flow-stretch assays that perfectly meet the criteria stated above is soft DNA curtains
[82]. In this recently developed version of DNA curtains, corresponding scanning probe microscopy and soft lithography techniques—AFM and protein lift-off microcontact printing—are combined together, enabling the precise nanopatterning of chemically modified glass coverslip surfaces with protein line-features (
Figure 1A). At first, the flat side of PDMS stamp is covered with sAv or traptavidin (tAv) by inking and then the protein ink drop is sucked with the pipette, followed by the washing and drying of the elastomeric stamp. Next, inked PDMS stamp is placed on the Si master, surface of which has inscribed nanometer-sized lines. At this stage, a controllable printing pressure acts on the formed PDMS-master “sandwich”, as this force is generated using a home-built portable printing device. The stamp is then removed from the Si master, determining the selective subtraction of certain protein regions covering the surface of the stamp, and is transferred onto the glass coverslip, the surface of which is coated with a layer of methoxy-PEG and biotin-PEG molecules. At this stage, a controllable printing pressure generated by the home-built portable printing device also acts on the formed PDMS-coverslip “sandwich”. Finally, the stamp is removed from the chemically modified glass coverslip, resulting in the formation of protein line-features on the glass surface.
Figure 1. Assembly and configurational variety of soft DNA curtains. (A) Principal steps of soft DNA curtains assembly—inking of the elastomeric stamp (1, 2) and selective subtraction of proteins by lift-off microcontact printing (3–6). (B) Single-tethered soft DNA curtains. Individual DNA molecules biotinylated only at a single end are immobilized on streptavidin (sAv) or traptavidin (tAv) line-features patterned on the glass coverslip surface. In the absence of a buffer flow, the free end of such DNA molecules is diffused further away from the surface. Upon the application of a hydrodynamic flow, these single-tethered DNA molecules stretch along the glass surface and align in a parallel manner with respect to each other. (C) Double-tethered soft DNA curtains. To assemble double-tethered soft DNA curtains, biotin and digoxigenin-functionalized DNA substrates and biotinylated anti-dig antibodies are employed. These antibodies are initially introduced into the flow cell containing the nanopatterned surface and single-tethered DNA molecules. In the presence of a buffer flow, the digoxigenin end of the stretched DNA molecules then binds to the adjacent anti-dig-coated sAv or tAv line-feature, thus ensuring that such DNA molecules stay aligned in a parallel manner and remain in an extended conformation even when the hydrodynamic flow is halted.
sAv or tAv line-features formed on the PEGylated glass coverslip surface serve as the stable anchor points for the surface immobilization of biotinylated DNA molecules. Moreover, such protein features ensure predefined alignment of the DNA molecules after immobilization. Upon the application of a buffer flow, anchored DNA molecules are stretched along the glass surface, allowing them to be visualized with TIRF microscopy (
Figure 1B). Soft DNA curtains can also be assembled in a double configuration, where the digoxigenin-labeled end of the surface-tethered DNA molecule is attached to the adjacent protein line-feature covered in biotinylated digoxigenin antibodies by the means of a hydrodynamic flow (
Figure 1C)
[83]. Same as the traditional ones, soft DNA curtains enable the high-throughput fluorescence microscopy imaging of individual DNA molecules organized in a massively parallel manner, whereas double-tethered soft DNA curtains also ensure the defined orientation of surface-immobilized DNA. For instance, soft DNA curtains were employed to observe the restriction endonuclease BfiI-catalyzed hydrolysis of discrete λ-DNA molecules and to visualize the dynamics of
S.
pyogenes Cas9 specific interactions with the double-tethered λ-DNA. Nevertheless, the eliminated need for expensive, specific-handling-knowledge-requiring equipment and the ingenious technological design of soft DNA curtains render them a cost-effective, simple, versatile, and user-friendly platform for efficient SM-level studies of protein-DNA interactions that is worth having in one’s scientific toolbox even for users with a little experience in this research field.
Moreover, an alternative to the whole technology of DNA curtains—DNA skybridge—has been developed recently
[84]. As well as DNA curtains, DNA skybridge enables the high-throughput imaging of protein-DNA interactions at the SM level. However, by utilizing some unique strategies, this novel tool fulfills the key concept of DNA curtains somewhat differently. A special 3D structure consisting of 4 µm high thin quartz barriers serves as a basis for the assembly of DNA skybridge. One biotinylated end of an individual DNA molecule is initially immobilized on the sAv-coated apex of the barrier. Upon the application of a buffer flow, this DNA molecule is then stretched, and its other end is tethered to the adjacent quartz ridge via the same biotin-sAv interaction. Ultimately, such DNA molecules are visualized using thin light sheet fluorescence microscopy. These two fundamental differences between DNA curtains and DNA skybridge permit some considerable advantages to the latter platform. The employment of the different optical imaging setup allows one to obtain high signal-to-noise ratios by reducing the background noise caused by the surface-bound fluorophores. Meanwhile, the organization of individual DNA molecules in a manner in which they are located far away from the surface eliminates the impact of false signals coming from non-specifically adsorbed fluorescently labeled proteins on the real-time SM-level visualization of dynamic protein-DNA interactions.