We investigated DNA-directed aggregation of vesicles using DNA-surfactants. Following tethering of single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides to vesicles using DNA-surfactant, the tethered vesicles were assembled with other vesicles bearing complementary strands. The vesicle aggregation was strongly affected by the salt concentration and by temperature according to the characteristics of DNA hybridization. Restriction enzyme, which can hydrolyze the double-stranded DNA used in the present study, dissociated the vesicle aggregates. Exploration using fluorescently labeled vesicles suggested char the DNA-directed vesicle aggregation took place in a sequence-specific manner through DNA-duplex formation. Interestingly, the DNA-directed aggregation using short DNA-surfactant induced the fusion of vesicles to produce giant vesicles, resulting in an enzymatic reaction in the giant vesicle. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.