Cation-Responsive and Photocleavable Hydrogels from Noncanonical Amphiphilic DNA Nanostructures.
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Publication Date
2022-01-26Journal Title
Nano Lett
ISSN
1530-6984
Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Volume
22
Issue
2
Pages
602-611
Language
eng
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
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Fabrini, G., Minard, A., Brady, R. A., Di Antonio, M., & Di Michele, L. (2022). Cation-Responsive and Photocleavable Hydrogels from Noncanonical Amphiphilic DNA Nanostructures.. Nano Lett, 22 (2), 602-611. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c03314
Description
Funder: Imperial College London
Abstract
Thanks to its biocompatibility, versatility, and programmable interactions, DNA has been proposed as a building block for functional, stimuli-responsive frameworks with applications in biosensing, tissue engineering, and drug delivery. Of particular importance for in vivo applications is the possibility of making such nanomaterials responsive to physiological stimuli. Here, we demonstrate how combining noncanonical DNA G-quadruplex (G4) structures with amphiphilic DNA constructs yields nanostructures, which we termed "Quad-Stars", capable of assembling into responsive hydrogel particles via a straightforward, enzyme-free, one-pot reaction. The embedded G4 structures allow one to trigger and control the assembly/disassembly in a reversible fashion by adding or removing K+ ions. Furthermore, the hydrogel aggregates can be photo-disassembled upon near-UV irradiation in the presence of a porphyrin photosensitizer. The combined reversibility of assembly, responsiveness, and cargo-loading capabilities of the hydrophobic moieties make Quad-Stars a promising candidate for biosensors and responsive drug delivery carriers.
Keywords
Self-assembly, Dna Nanotechnology, G-quadruplexes, Stimuli-responsive Hydrogels, Amphiphilic Dna
Sponsorship
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/R011605/1)
Royal Society (UF160152)
European Research Council (851667 NANOCELL, 851667)
Identifiers
PMC8796241, 35026112
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c03314
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/333983
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Licence URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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