Hybridmaterialien aus Nucleinsäuren und organischen Polymeren: Synthese, Überstrukturen und Anwendungen

Freezing-Assisted Conjugation of Unmodified Diblock DNA to Hydrogel Nanoparticles and Monoliths for DNA and Hg2+ Sensing

Acrydite-modified DNA is the most frequently used reagent to prepare DNA-functionalized hydrogels. Herein, we show that unmodified penta-adenine (A₅ ) can reach up to 75 % conjugation efficiency in 8 h under a freezing polymerization condition in polyacrylamide hydrogels. DNA incorporation efficiency was reduced by forming duplex or other folded structures and by removing the freezing condition. By designing diblock DNA containing an A₅ block, various functional DNA sequences were attached. Such hydrogels were designed for ultrasensitive DNA hybridization and Hg²⁺ detection, with detection limits of 50 pM and 10 nM, respectively, demonstrating the feasibility of using unmodified DNA to replace acrydite-DNA. The same method worked for both gel nanoparticles and monoliths. This work revealed interesting reaction products by exploiting freezing and has provided a cost-effective way to attach DNA to hydrogels.

Biomolecular Densely Grafted Brush Polymers: Oligonucleotides, Oligosaccharides and Oligopeptides

In this Minireview, we describe synthetic polymers densely functionalized with sequence-defined biomolecular sidechains. We focus on synthetic brush polymers of oligonucleotides, oligosaccharides, and oligopeptides, prepared via graft-through polymerization from biomolecule functionalized monomers. The resulting structures are brush polymers wherein a biomolecular graft is positioned at each monomer backbone unit. We describe key synthetic milestones, identify synthetic opportunities, and highlight recent advances in the field, including biological applications.

Dynamic Nanostructures from DNA-Coupled Molecules, Polymers, and Nanoparticles

Dynamic and reconfigurable systems that can sense and react to physical and chemical signals are ubiquitous in nature and are of great interest in diverse areas of science and technology. DNA is a powerful tool for fabricating such smart materials and devices due to its programmable and responsive molecular recognition properties. For the past couple of decades, DNA-based self-assembly is actively explored to fabricate various DNA-organic and DNA-inorganic hybrid nanostructures with high-precision structural control. Building upon past development, researchers have recently begun to design and assemble dynamic nanostructures that can undergo an on-demand transformation in the structure, properties, and motion in response to various external stimuli. In this Review, recent advances in dynamic DNA nanostructures, focusing on hybrid structures fabricated from DNA-conjugated molecules, polymers, and nanoparticles, are introduced, and their potential applications and future perspectives are discussed.

Automated Synthesis of Well-Defined Polymers and Biohybrids by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization Using a DNA Synthesizer

A DNA synthesizer was successfully employed for preparation of well-defined polymers by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), in a technique termed AutoATRP. This method provides well-defined homopolymers, diblock copolymers, and biohybrids under automated photomediated ATRP conditions. PhotoATRP was selected over other ATRP methods because of mild reaction conditions, ambient temperature, tolerance to oxygen, and no need to introduce reducing agents or radical initiators. Both acrylate and methacrylate monomers were successfully polymerized with excellent control in the DNA synthesizer. Diblock copolymers were synthesized with different targeted degrees of polymerization and with high retention of chain-end functionality. Both hydrophobic and hydrophilic monomers were grafted from DNA. The DNA-polymer hybrids were characterized by SEC and DLS. The AutoATRP method provides an efficient route to prepare a range of different polymeric materials, especially polymer-biohybrids.

Dynamic Chemistry of Disulfide Terminated Oligonucleotides in Duplexes and Double-Crossover Tiles

Designed nanostructures formed by self-assembly of multiple DNA strands suffer from low stability at elevated temperature and under other denaturing conditions. Here, we propose a method for covalent coupling of DNA strands in such structures by the formation of disulfide bonds; this allows disassembly of the structure under reducing conditions. The dynamic chemistry of disulfides and thiols was applied to crosslink DNA strands with terminal disulfide modifications. The formation of disulfide-linked DNA duplexes consisting of three strands is demonstrated, as well as a more-complex DNA double-crossover tile. All the strands in the fully disulfide-linked structures are covalently and geometrically interlocked, and it is demonstrated that the structures are stable under heating and in the presence of denaturants. Such a reversible system can be exploited in applications where higher DNA stability is needed only temporarily, such as delivery of cargoes to cells by DNA nanostructures.

Solvent-free Liquid Crystals and Liquids from DNA

As DNA exhibits persistent structures with dimensions that exceed the range of their intermolecular forces, solid-state DNA undergoes thermal degradation at elevated temperatures. Therefore, the realization of solvent-free DNA fluids, including liquid crystals and liquids, still remains a significant challenge. To address this intriguing issue, we demonstrate that combining DNA with suitable cationic surfactants, followed by dehydration, can be a simple generic scheme for producing these solvent-free DNA fluid systems. In the anhydrous smectic liquid crystalline phase, DNA sublayers are intercalated between aliphatic hydrocarbon sublayers. The lengths of the DNA and surfactant are found to be extremely important in tuning the physical properties of the fluids. Stable liquid-crystalline and liquid phases are obtained in the -20 °C to 200 °C temperature range without thermal degradation of the DNA. Thus, a new type of DNA-based soft biomaterial has been achieved, which will promote the study and application of DNA in a much broader context.

Self-assembly of DNA-oligo(p-phenylene-ethynylene) hybrid amphiphiles into surface-engineered vesicles with enhanced emission

Surface-addressable nanostructures of linearly π-conjugated molecules play a crucial role in the emerging field of nanoelectronics. Herein, by using DNA as the hydrophilic segment, we demonstrate a solid-phase "click" chemistry approach for the synthesis of a series of DNA-chromophore hybrid amphiphiles and report their reversible self-assembly into surface-engineered vesicles with enhanced emission. DNA-directed surface addressability of the vesicles was demonstrated through the integration of gold nanoparticles onto the surface of the vesicles by sequence-specific DNA hybridization. This system could be converted to a supramolecular light-harvesting antenna by integrating suitable FRET acceptors onto the surface of the nanostructures. The general nature of the synthesis, surface addressability, and biocompatibility of the resulting nanostructures offer great promises for nanoelectronics, energy, and biomedical applications.

Tuning ratios, densities, and supramolecular spacing in bifunctional DNA-modified gold nanoparticles

Methods for combining multiple functions into well-defined nanomaterials are still lacking, despite their need in nanomedicine and within the broader field of nanotechnology. Here several strategies for controlling the amount and the ratio of combinations of labeled DNA on 13-nm gold nanoparticles using self-assembly of thiolated DNA and/or DNA-directed assembly are explored. It is found that the self-assembly of mixtures of fluorescently labeled DNA can lead to a higher amount of labeled DNA per particle; however, the ratio of fluorophores on the nanoparticles differs greatly from that in the self-assembly solution. In contrast, when fluorescently labeled DNA are hybridized to DNA-modified gold nanoparticles, the fluorophore ratio on the nanoparticles is much closer to their ratio in solution. The use of bifunctional DNA-doublers in self-assembly and DNA-directed assembly is also explored to increase the complexity of these materials and control their composition. Finally, tuning the distance between the labels from 2.9 to 5.4 nm was achieved using different hybridized DNA clamp complexes. Fluorescent results suggest that assembling these clamps on nanoparticle surfaces may be possible, although the resulting label spacing could not be quantified.

DNA-polymer micelles as nanoparticles with recognition ability

The Watson-Crick binding of DNA single strands is a powerful tool for the assembly of nanostructures. Our objective is to develop polymer nanoparticles equipped with DNA strands for surface-patterning applications, taking advantage of the DNA technology, in particular, recognition and reversibility. A hybrid DNA copolymer is synthesized through the conjugation of a ssDNA (22-mer) with a poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(caprolactone) diblock copolymer (PEO-b-PCl). It is shown that, in water, the PEO-b-PCl-ssDNA(22) polymer forms micelles with a PCl hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic corona made of PEO and DNA. The micelles are thoroughly characterized using electron microscopy (TEM and cryoTEM) and small-angle neutron scattering. The binding of these DNA micelles to a surface through DNA recognition is monitored using a quartz crystal microbalance and imaged by atomic force microscopy. The micelles can be released from the surface by a competitive displacement event.