Physicochemical and nanotechnological approaches to the design of ‘rigid’ spatial structures of DNA

Abstract

This review focuses on physicochemical and nanotechnological approaches to the design of ‘rigid’ particles based on double-stranded DNA molecules. The physicochemical methods imply cross-linking of adjacent DNA molecules ordered in quasinematic layers of liquid-crystalline dispersion particles by synthetic nanobridges consisting of alternating molecules of an antibiotic (daunomycin) and divalent copper ions, as well as cross-linking of these molecules as a result of their salting-out in quasinematic layers of liquid-crystalline dispersion particles under the action of lanthanide cations. The nanotechnological approach is based on the insertion of gold nanoparticles into the free space between double-stranded DNA molecules that form quasinematic layers of liquid-crystalline dispersion particles. This gives rise to extended clusters of gold nanoparticles and is accompanied by an enhancement of the interaction between the DNA molecules through gold nanoparticles and by a decrease in the solubility of dispersion particles. These approaches produce integrated ‘rigid’ DNA-containing spatial structures, which are incompatible with the initial aqueous polymeric solutions and have unique properties.The bibliography includes 116 references.