Automated Purification of DNA Origami with SPRI Beads

Abstract

DNA origami synthesis is a well-established technique and has been employed in various applications. The synthesised origami must be purified to eliminate the excess materials such as DNA oligos and other molecules. While several purification techniques are routinely used, they all have limitations, and none can be automated to simultaneously handle large numbers and quantities of samples. Here we introduce the use of solid-phase immobilisation (SPRI) beads as an easy-to-adopt, scalable, high-throughput and automation-compatible method to purify DNA origami. Not only can this method remove excess oligos and biomolecules with comparable yield to existing methods while maintaining high structural integrity of the origami, but it also allows an automated workflow to simultaneously purify large numbers of samples within a limited time. We envision that the SPRI beads purification approach will improve the scalability of DNA nanostructures synthesis both for research and commercial applications.