Multicolor and erasable DNA photolithography.

The immobilization of DNA molecules onto a solid support is a crucial step in biochip research and related applications. In this work, we report a DNA photolithography method based on photocleavage of 2-nitrobenzyl linker-modified DNA strands. These strands were subjected to ultraviolet light irradiation to generate multiple short DNA strands in a programmable manner. Coupling the toehold-mediated DNA strand-displacement reaction with DNA photolithography enabled the fabrication of a DNA chip surface with multifunctional DNA patterns having complex geometrical structures at the microscale level. The erasable DNA photolithography strategy was developed to allow different paintings on the same chip. Furthermore, the asymmetrical modification of colloidal particles was carried out by using this photolithography strategy. This strategy has broad applications in biosensors, nanodevices, and DNA-nanostructure fabrication.