title: Size-controlled construction of magnetic nanoparticle clusters using DNA-binding zinc finger protein.
abstract: Nanoparticle clusters (NPCs) have attracted significant interest owing to their unique characteristics arising from their collective individual properties. Nonetheless, the construction of NPCs in a structurally well-defined and size-controllable manner remains a challenge. Here we demonstrate a strategy to construct size-controlled NPCs using the DNA-binding zinc finger (ZnF) protein. Biotinylated ZnF was conjugated to DNA templates with different lengths, followed by incubation with neutravidin-conjugated nanoparticles. The sequence specificity of ZnF and programmable DNA templates enabled a size-controlled construction of NPCs, resulting in a homogeneous size distribution. We demonstrated the utility of magnetic NPCs by showing a three-fold increase in the spin-spin relaxivity in MRI compared with Feridex. Furthermore, folate-conjugated magnetic NPCs exhibited a specific targeting ability for HeLa cells. The present approach can be applicable to other nanoparticles, finding wide applications in many areas such as disease diagnosis, imaging, and delivery of drugs and genes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701 (Korea).
authors.forename: Yiseul
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Zongwen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Joong-jae
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seung-hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.forename: Tae-Hyun
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Seong-Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.forename: Joonsung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: HyunWook
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jinwoo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheon
authors.forename: Hak-Sung
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D001360:Avidin / Q000737:chemistry; D019921:Biotinylation; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007364:Intercalating Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D011485:Protein Binding; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D007364:Intercalating Agents; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D011506:Proteins; C093483:neutravidin; D001360:Avidin; D004247:DNA
keywords: DNA; nanoparticle clusters; nanostructures; self-assembly; zinc finger