title: Switching bonds in a DNA gel: an all-DNA vitrimer.
abstract: We design an all-DNA system that behaves like vitrimers, innovative plastics with self-healing and stress-releasing properties. The DNA sequences are engineered to self-assemble first into tetra- and bifunctional units which, upon further cooling, bind to each other forming a fully bonded network gel. An innovative design of the binding regions of the DNA sequences, exploiting a double toehold-mediated strand displacement, generates a network gel which is able to reshuffle its bonds, retaining at all times full bonding. As in vitrimers, the rate of bond switching can be controlled via a thermally activated catalyst, which in the present design is very short DNA strands.
authors.affiliation: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.affiliation: Sapienza-Università di Roma, Piazzale A. Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sciortino
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D004247:DNA