Center for Molecular Recognition and Biosensing, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China.
Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Communication and Information Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Jun 5;19(6):1671. doi: 10.3390/ijms19061671.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, because of the lack of accurate diagnostic tools for the early stages of cancer. Thus, early diagnosis, which provides important information for a timely therapy of cancer, is of great significance for controlling the development of the disease and the proliferation of cancer cells and for improving the survival rates of patients. To achieve the goals of early diagnosis and timely therapy of cancer, DNA nanotechnology may be effective, since it has emerged as a valid technique for the fabrication of various nanoscale structures and devices. The resultant DNA-based nanoscale structures and devices show extraordinary performance in cancer diagnosis, owing to their predictable secondary structures, small sizes, and high biocompatibility and programmability. In particular, the rapid development of DNA nanotechnologies, such as molecular assembly technologies, endows DNA-based nanomaterials with more functionalization and intellectualization. Here, we summarize recent progress made in the development of DNA nanotechnology for the fabrication of functional and intelligent nanomaterials and highlight the prospects of this technology in cancer diagnosis and therapy.
癌症是全球主要死因之一，因为缺乏用于癌症早期阶段的准确诊断工具。因此，早期诊断为癌症的及时治疗提供了重要信息，对于控制疾病的发展和癌细胞的增殖以及提高患者的生存率具有重要意义。为了实现癌症的早期诊断和及时治疗的目标，DNA 纳米技术可能是有效的，因为它已成为制造各种纳米结构和器件的有效技术。基于 DNA 的纳米结构和器件由于其可预测的二级结构、小尺寸以及高生物相容性和可编程性，在癌症诊断中表现出非凡的性能。特别是 DNA 纳米技术（如分子组装技术）的快速发展，使基于 DNA 的纳米材料具有更多的功能化和智能化。在这里，我们总结了 DNA 纳米技术在制造功能性和智能纳米材料方面的最新进展，并强调了该技术在癌症诊断和治疗方面的前景。
