DNA-Based Enzyme Reactors and Systems

Abstract

During recent years, the possibility to create custom biocompatible nanoshapes using DNA as a building material has rapidly emerged. Further, these rationally designed DNA structures could be exploited in positioning pivotal molecules, such as enzymes, with nanometer-level precision. This feature could be used in the fabrication of artificial biochemical machinery that is able to mimic the complex reactions found in living cells. Currently, DNA-enzyme hybrids can be used to control (multi-enzyme) cascade reactions and to regulate the enzyme functions and the reaction pathways. Moreover, sophisticated DNA structures can be utilized in encapsulating active enzymes and delivering the molecular cargo into cells. In this review, we focus on the latest enzyme systems based on novel DNA nanostructures: enzyme reactors, regulatory devices and carriers that can find uses in various biotechnological and nanomedical applications.

Nucleic‐Acid‐Templated Enzyme Cascades

“…Recent investigations into nucleic-acid-templated enzyme cascade reactions and substrate transport as described in this review,a nd some basic outlinesi np revious reviews, [74][75][76][77] have unambiguously demonstratedt he superior powero fD NA and RNA templates over other scaffolds such as protein [16][17][18][19] and lipid bilayers. [20] The conjugation of the enzymet ot he DNA, [74] control over the inter-enzyme distance and ratio, easy fabrication andr elatively easy removal of excessp roteins are major advantages of the nucleic-acid-based templateso ver protein or lipid bilayers.…”

Protein Coating of DNA Nanostructures for Enhanced Stability and Immunocompatibility

“…[10][11][12] The computational tools [11][12][13] for designing such objects have emerged along with these techniques, and this progress has opened up new possibilities for the researchers to effortlessly build their own nanostructures for tailored uses. [14] Recently demonstrated applications based on customized DNA nanostructures include artificial ion channels, [15] optical (plasmonic and photonic) structures, [16,17] high-precision molecular positioning devices, [18] modifiable templates for arranging, e.g., proteins, [19][20][21] polymers, [22] and nanotubes, [23] as well as DNA-assisted techniques for creating arbitrarily shaped metal nanoparticles. [24][25][26] Fully addressable DNA nanostructures, especially DNA origami, possess huge potential to serve as inherently biocompatible and versatile molecular platforms.…”

Metallic Nanostructures Based on DNA Nanoshapes

“…Each unique oligonucleotide in a DNA nano-object can be modified with various functional groups, allowing the structure to be functionalized by, e.g., metallic nanoparticles (NPs) [34,35], enzymes [36,37,38,39] and carbon nanotubes [40,41]. Especially in the case of metallic NPs, the formed assemblies can be directly used as plasmonic devices or they can be utilized as seeds for the growth of continuous metal structures, as discussed below.…”