DNA-Incorporating Nanomaterials in Biotechnological Applications

Abstract

The recently developed ability to controllably connect biological and inorganic objects on a molecular scale opens a new page in biomimetic methods with potential applications in biodetection, tissue engineering, targeted therapeutics and drug/gene delivery. Particularly in the biodetection arena, a rapid development of new platforms has largely been stimulated by a spectrum of novel nanomaterials with physical properties that offer efficient, sensitive and inexpensive molecular sensing. Recently, DNA-functionalized nano-objects have emerged as a new class of nanomaterials that can be controllably assembled in predesigned structures. Such DNA-based nanoscale structures might provide a new detection paradigm due to their regulated optical, electrical and magnetic responses, chemical heterogeneity and high local biomolecular concentration. The specific biorecognition DNA and its physical–chemical characteristics allows for an exploitation of DNA-functionalized nanomaterials for sensing of nucleic acids, while a broad tunability of DNA interactions permits extending their use for detection of proteins, small molecules and ions. We discuss the progress that was achieved in the last decade in the exploration of new detection methods based on DNA-incorporating nanomaterials as well as their applications to gene delivery. The comparison between various detection platforms, their sensitivity and selectivity, and specific applications are reviewed.

Keywords::

• assembly
• detection
• DNA
• gene delivery
• nanoparticle functionalization
• nanoparticles
• optical sensing

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Andrea Stadler and Daniel van der Lelie were supported by funding from the Battelle Memorial Institute. Cheng Chi and Oleg Gang were supported by the U.S. DOE Office of Science and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under contract No. DE-AC-02–98CH10886. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Andrea Stadler and Daniel van der Lelie were supported by funding from the Battelle Memorial Institute. Cheng Chi and Oleg Gang were supported by the U.S. DOE Office of Science and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under contract No. DE-AC-02–98CH10886. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.