Regulation of Biological Functions at the Cell Interface by DNA Nanostructures

Abstract

The control over specific biological functions of a single cell or between different cells is an exciting goal in the fields of biophysics and biochemistry. Besides the fast‐developed chemical biology methods, such as chemical labeling and gene editing, researchers are still seeking for efficient ways to manipulate cell behaviors. Over the past decades, self‐assembled DNA nanostructures have emerged as novel and versatile tools for the study of biological science. Featured with structural programmability, customized functionality, and marked biocompatibility, DNA nanostructures have been immensely exploited for a variety of fascinating biological applications including bioimaging and drug delivery. In addition, DNA nanostructures also hold great potential in the regulation of physiological functions at various biological interfaces. In this minireview, the recent progress of the regulation of biological processes and functions at cell interface using DNA nanostructures is summarized. Current challenges and opportunities in applying DNA nanoassemblies as tools for cell behavior manipulation are also briefly discussed.

Advances in Rolling Circle Amplification (RCA)‐Based DNA‐Functional Materials for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

“…It is well known that the morphology of nanomaterials is an important determining factor for their functional properties, and controlling morphologies of nanomaterials has been a major endeavor in the field of materials science and engineering. [13,119] In the field of DNA materials, various morphology of DNA-based materials such as square, triangle, and hollow DNA nanomaterials have been developed via DNA origami technology for different cancer treatment. [120] However, up to now, the RCA-based strategy is still powerless to regulate the morphologies of DNA-based materials.…”

“…The superior separation of biomarkers usually requires the perfect cooperation of multiple functional modules. For the following cancer therapy, various therapy methods, including chemodynamic therapy, [ 10 ] photodynamic therapy (PDT), [ 11 ] gene therapy (gene editing and gene silencing), [ 12 ] and immunotherapy, [ 13 ] have been studied and developed. However, conventional monotherapy treatment usually limits the effectiveness against cancer, and cannot satisfy the increasing demand for more efficient cancer therapy.…”

Functional DNA as a Molecular Tool in Regulating Immunoreceptor–Ligand Interactions

“…As each DNA strand that constitutes DNA nanostructures has a specific position, by extending one of these DNA strands with an overhand sequence, proteins, nanoparticles, and small molecules conjugated with DNA strands complementary to that overhand DNA can be precisely fixed to specific sites on the DNA nanostructures via DNA hybridizing. This feature can solve many problems that cannot be overcome by traditional physical and chemical methods, such as precise regulation of biosensing interfaces, , manipulation of molecular motion, and controlling ligand spacing at single molecular level …”

“…This feature can solve many problems that cannot be overcome by traditional physical and chemical methods, such as precise regulation of biosensing interfaces, 66 , 67 manipulation of molecular motion, 43 and controlling ligand spacing at single molecular level. 68 …”