Optimizing Communication Speeds in DNA Origami Nanodevices

In the last decade, dynamic DNA origami structures have shown great promise for the transport of signals and cargo at the nanoscale. While the diffusion coefficient of these structures is usually large, the strand exchange mechanisms used for communicating signals or cargo across structures make the overall process reaction limited, leading to slow operation speeds. In this talk, a kinetic theory to estimate the stepping rate constant of communicating DNA origami nanostructures of arbitrary lengths is introduced. This theory, in agreement with experimental measurements, is used to optimize communication among DNA origami nanostructures, suggesting there is still room to substantially improve the operation rates of strand exchange-mediated devices. While our theory is presented in the context of DNA nanotechnology, the expressions for the stepping rates introduced hereby are broadly applicable to diverse systems, providing new ways to characterize natural communication processes and optimize the rate of signal propagation for sensing and computing applications in systems where reaction and diffusion are the dominating forces.