Title: Understanding stabilizing energetics of DNA and their applications in DNA nanotechnology and super-resolution imaging.

Speaker: Prof. Mahipal Ganji, IISc Bangalore

Abstract: DNA is highly amenable as a programmable material because of its well-defined base-pairing properties, hence finding applications wide scientific fields including nanotechnology and super-resolution imaging. The DNA double helix structure is stabilized by base-pairing and base-stacking interactions. However, our understanding of dinucleotide base-stacking energetics is rather minimal due to a lack of convenient probing methods. In my talk, I will present on multiplexed DNA-based Point Accumulation for Imaging in Nanoscale Topography (DNA-PAINT) imaging with designer DNA nanostructures that enabled us to measure the free energy of dinucleotide base stacking at the single-molecule level. We demonstrate the application of base-stacking energetics in designing DNA-PAINT probes for multiplexed super-resolution imaging and the efficient assembly of higher-order DNA nanostructures. I will also discuss our current efforts in utilizing the assay for understanding the role of stacking energetics that dictate the integrity of genomic sequences.