Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology, Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (MOE), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, P. R. China.
Department of Biological & Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States.
Chem Rev. 2020 Sep 9;120(17):9420-9481. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00294. Epub 2020 Jul 16.
DNA is traditionally known as a central genetic biomolecule in living systems. From an alternative perspective, DNA is a versatile molecular building-block for the construction of functional materials, in particular biomaterials, due to its intrinsic biological attributes, molecular recognition capability, sequence programmability, and biocompatibility. The topologies of DNA building-blocks mainly include linear, circular, and branched types. Branched DNA recently has been extensively employed as a versatile building-block to synthesize new biomaterials, and an assortment of promising applications have been explored. In this review, we discuss the progress on DNA functional materials assembled from branched DNA. We first briefly introduce the background information on DNA molecules and sketch the development history of DNA functional materials constructed from branched DNA. In the second part, the synthetic strategies of branched DNA as building-blocks are categorized into base-pairing assembly and chemical bonding. In the third part, construction strategies for the branched DNA-based functional materials are comprehensively summarized including tile-mediated assembly, DNA origami, dynamic assembly, and hybrid assembly. In the fourth part, applications including diagnostics, protein engineering, drug and gene delivery, therapeutics, and cell engineering are demonstrated. In the end, an insight into the challenges and future perspectives is provided. We envision that branched DNA functional materials can not only enrich the DNA nanotechnology by ingenious design and synthesis but also promote the development of interdisciplinary fields in chemistry, biology, medicine, and engineering, ultimately addressing the growing demands on biological and medical-related applications in the real world.
DNA 传统上被认为是生物系统中的一种主要遗传生物分子。从另一个角度来看，由于其内在的生物属性、分子识别能力、序列可编程性和生物相容性，DNA 是构建功能性材料（尤其是生物材料）的多功能分子构建块。DNA 构建块的拓扑结构主要包括线性、环形和分支型。近年来，分支 DNA 已被广泛用作一种多功能构建块来合成新型生物材料，并且已经探索了各种有前途的应用。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了由分支 DNA 组装的 DNA 功能材料的进展。我们首先简要介绍 DNA 分子的背景信息，并简述由分支 DNA 构建的 DNA 功能材料的发展历史。在第二部分，将支化 DNA 作为构建块的合成策略分为碱基配对组装和化学键合。在第三部分，全面总结了基于支化 DNA 的功能材料的构建策略，包括平铺介导组装、DNA 折纸术、动态组装和混合组装。在第四部分，展示了包括诊断、蛋白质工程、药物和基因传递、治疗和细胞工程在内的应用。最后，我们对挑战和未来展望进行了展望。我们设想，分支 DNA 功能材料不仅可以通过巧妙的设计和合成丰富 DNA 纳米技术，还可以促进化学、生物学、医学和工程等跨学科领域的发展，最终满足现实世界中对生物和医学相关应用不断增长的需求。
