Figure 1.

(a) Schematic of the two-step assembly process where the linker attaches first to the vesicles and the triskelion hybridizes subsequently to form an interconnected coating on the vesicle surface (not to scale). (b) Representation of the linker attached to a liposome through a Chol-TEG tag at the 3′-end of one of the oligonucleotides composing the duplex. The 18 nt long overhangs were included on each side of the linker to anneal with the triskelion. (c) Representation of the triskelion with a complementary 18 nt overhang per arm to hybridize with the linker. The three configurations of T1, T2, and T3 differ by the number of unpaired thymine bases in the hinge. (d) AFM micrograph of the T1 triskelion in liquid. Lateral scale bar: 10 nm. (e) Hydrodynamic diameters of the different hybrid structures obtained by DLS with V = 195 ± 10 nm, VL = 190 ± 9 nm, VLT1 = 247 ± 6 nm, VLT2 = 248 ± 8 nm, and VLT3 = 245 ± 7 nm (from counts in intensity). The stated values represent the averages and the standard deviations of five measurements of three independent sample preparations each.