title: Noncanonical self-assembly of multifunctional DNA nanoflowers for biomedical applications.
abstract: DNA nanotechnology has been extensively explored to assemble various functional nanostructures for versatile applications. Mediated by Watson-Crick base-pairing, these DNA nanostructures have been conventionally assembled through hybridization of many short DNA building blocks. Here we report the noncanonical self-assembly of multifunctional DNA nanostructures, termed as nanoflowers (NFs), and the versatile biomedical applications. These NFs were assembled from long DNA building blocks generated via rolling circle replication (RCR) of a designer template. NF assembly was driven by liquid crystallization and dense packaging of building blocks, without relying on Watson-Crick base-pairing between DNA strands, thereby avoiding the otherwise conventional complicated DNA sequence design. NF sizes were readily tunable in a wide range, by simply adjusting such parameters as assembly time and template sequences. NFs were exceptionally resistant to nuclease degradation, denaturation, or dissociation at extremely low concentration, presumably resulting from the dense DNA packaging in NFs. The exceptional biostability is critical for biomedical applications. By rational design, NFs can be readily incorporated with myriad functional moieties. All these properties make NFs promising for versatile applications. As a proof-of-principle demonstration, in this study, NFs were integrated with aptamers, bioimaging agents, and drug loading sites, and the resultant multifunctional NFs were demonstrated for selective cancer cell recognition, bioimaging, and targeted anticancer drug delivery.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and College of Biology, Collaborative Innovation Center for Chemistry and Molecular Medicine, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Guizhi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Zilong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Zhuo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xiaobing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D020811:Biomedical Technology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000494:pharmacology; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D010316:Particle Size; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004317:Doxorubicin; D004247:DNA