Gene-Like Precise Construction of Functional DNA Materials

Abstract

The traditional construction of biomaterials is based on “modification and trial-error screening” strategies, which are less effective and lack of rational design. In recent years, great efforts have been devoted to exploring “function-directional rational design and synthesis” strategies. The biomolecule deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which acts as genetic information carrier, has been widely explored as a programmable copolymer that was composed of four deoxyribonucleotide monomers (A, T, C, and G). The sequence of deoxyribonucleotide monomers in DNA molecules determines the assembly behavior and the consequent higher order structures of their assembled structures; furthermore, the sequence information in the DNA molecules implies specific biological functions, such as genetic expression, recognition capability for specific molecules, and biocatalytic capabilities. Therefore, targeting to a specific application, the deoxyribonucleotide monomers in DNA polymer can be rationally programmed and precisely synthesized. The well-designed DNA molecules would spontaneously self-assemble into well-defined structures with specific functions under favorable environments as predicted, thus making DNA a promising building block for the construction of materials with precisely designed structures and tailored functions, which can be termed as “gene-like precise construction” strategies. Besides, the DNA polymers are of excellent biocompatibility, and the DNA-based materials would finally be degradable in vivo. This chapter will introduce the recent progress on DNA-based materials, which mainly include the molecular design principle, assembly strategies, the constructed biomaterials, and their wide applications, mainly based on the research work of our lab. The challenges and future development trend of DNA functional materials are also discussed at the end of this chapter.KeywordsDNA assemblyDNA-based materials“Gene-like” construction of materialsDNA hydrogelDNA nanotechnology