Department of Chemistry and Department of Physiology and Functional Genomics, Shands Cancer Center, Center for Research at Bio/Nano Interface, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7200, USA.
Macromol Rapid Commun. 2013 Aug;34(16):1271-83. doi: 10.1002/marc.201300411. Epub 2013 Jul 16.
The term hydrogel describes a type of soft and wet material formed by cross-linked hydrophilic polymers. The distinct feature of hydrogels is their ability to absorb a large amount of water and swell. The properties of a hydrogel are usually determined by the chemical properties of their constituent polymer(s). However, a group of hydrogels, called "smart hydrogels," changes properties in response to environmental changes or external stimuli. Recently, DNA or DNA-inspired responsive hydrogels have attracted considerable attention in construction of smart hydrogels because of the intrinsic advantages of DNA. As a biological polymer, DNA is hydrophilic, biocompatible, and highly programmable by Watson-Crick base pairing. DNA can form a hydrogel by itself under certain conditions, and it can also be incorporated into synthetic polymers to form DNA-hybrid hydrogels. Functional DNAs, such as aptamers and DNAzymes, provide additional molecular recognition capabilities and versatility. In this Review, DNA-based hydrogels are discussed in terms of their stimulus response, as well as their applications.
水凝胶一词描述了一种由交联亲水聚合物形成的柔软、湿润的材料。水凝胶的显著特征是其能够吸收大量的水并发生溶胀。水凝胶的性质通常取决于其组成聚合物的化学性质。然而，一类被称为“智能水凝胶”的水凝胶会对环境变化或外部刺激做出响应，从而改变性质。最近，由于 DNA 的固有优势，基于 DNA 的响应性水凝胶在智能水凝胶的构建中引起了相当大的关注。作为一种生物聚合物，DNA 具有亲水性、生物相容性和高度可编程性的沃森-克里克碱基配对。DNA 可以在某些条件下自行形成水凝胶，也可以掺入合成聚合物中形成 DNA-杂化水凝胶。功能性 DNA，如适体和 DNA 酶，提供了额外的分子识别能力和多功能性。在这篇综述中，将从刺激响应的角度讨论基于 DNA 的水凝胶及其应用。
