THESIS
2013
iii leaves, iv-xxiii, 141 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 30 cm
Abstract
DNA nanotechnology, first laid out by Nadrian C. Seeman in 1982, is the design and
manufacture of artificial DNA nanostructures for technological applications. Because of its
self-assembly nature, DNA is an excellent candidate for creating predictable and
programmable nanoarchitectures. A variety of fantastic one-dimensional (1D),
two-dimensional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D) DNA structures have been constructed
over the past 30 years, providing all sorts of potential applications. This dissertation focuses
on the design and construction of DNA-based materials and their applications.
In this dissertation, we first describe a reversible DNA induced hydrogel transition system
that could provide a generic strategy for target molecular recognition and separation. We
demonstrat...[
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DNA nanotechnology, first laid out by Nadrian C. Seeman in 1982, is the design and
manufacture of artificial DNA nanostructures for technological applications. Because of its
self-assembly nature, DNA is an excellent candidate for creating predictable and
programmable nanoarchitectures. A variety of fantastic one-dimensional (1D),
two-dimensional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D) DNA structures have been constructed
over the past 30 years, providing all sorts of potential applications. This dissertation focuses
on the design and construction of DNA-based materials and their applications.
In this dissertation, we first describe a reversible DNA induced hydrogel transition system
that could provide a generic strategy for target molecular recognition and separation. We
demonstrate that the separation of target molecules can be achieved efficiently without any
influence by non-targeted molecules. Second, we indicate the construction of a 3D DNA
triangular prism folded from one single-stranded DNA of 198 nucleotides. This is the smallest
3D DNA polyhedron (~3.4 nm) ever reported to the best of our knowledge. The correct
assembly of the triangular prism is verified by nondenaturing gel analysis, enzyme digestion,
AFM and STM imaging. Third, we develop a self-replicating DNA origami dimer that can
undergo exponential amplification indefinitely with sufficient monomer tiles. Moreover, the
self-replication of longer DNA origami patterns is also achieved. In addition, we also indicate
that the artificial evolution can be realized in a self-replicating fashion by selective self-replication of two competing species using NIR dyes as controlled factors. Finally, we
illustrate the design and construction of DNA-based pH-responsive nanogel system for
targeted drug delivery. We used aptamer as targeting unit and i-motif transformation in strand
G2 as pH-responsive unit. We characterized the nanogel formation by DLS and SEM imaging.
The in vitro pH-responsive drug release of the nanogel system is verified by fluorescence
spectroscopy. We demonstrate by in vitro anti-proliferation and cellular uptake study that our
aptamer-modified DOX-nanogels have better cytotoxicity than free DOX and specific
targeting property.
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