Smart Drug Delivery Systems Based on DNA Nanotechnology

Abstract

The development of DNA nanotechnology has attracted tremendous attention in biotechnological and biomedical fields involving biosensing, bioimaging and disease therapy. In particular, precise control over size and shape, easy modification, excellent programmability and inherent homology make the sophisticated DNA nanostructures vital for constructing intelligent drug carriers. Recent advances in the design of multifunctional DNA‐based drug delivery systems (DDSs) have demonstrated the effectiveness and advantages of DNA nanostructures, showing the unique benefits and great potential in enhancing the delivery of pharmaceutical compounds and reducing systemic toxicity. This Review aims to overview the latest researches on DNA nanotechnology‐enabled nanomedicine and give a perspective on their future opportunities.

DNA origami technology for biomedical applications: Challenges and opportunities

“…In fact, several excellent reviews concerning the design and fabrication of DNA origami nanostructures, their advances in applied physics and chemistry, and biomedical applications are available elsewhere (Figure 1). 8–11,14–25 …”

“…In fact, several excellent reviews concerning the design and fabrication of DNA origami nanostructures, their advances in applied physics and chemistry, and biomedical applications are available elsewhere (Figure 1). [8][9][10][11][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Despite their popularity, the biomedical application of DNA origami techniques, which exploits their unique programmability and addressability, is rare in previous studies. Most recently, mounting evidence has demonstrated the robustness of DNA origami nanostructures in the spatial organization of functional components at the nanoscale in the biomedical field.…”

Ultrasmall zirconium carbide nanodots for synergistic photothermal-radiotherapy of glioma

“…9,10 Fortunately, emerging therapies (including photothermal, photodynamic, sonodynamic and magnetodynamic therapies) and radiosensitizers provide fresh possibilities to improve the therapeutic efficacy of treating glioma. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] As a promising noninvasive treatment, photothermal therapy (PTT) uses photothermal transduction agents (PTAs) to convert nearinfrared radiation (NIR) light energy into heat inside/outside of the tumor cells, disrupting internal cell construction and denaturing proteins, thereby triggering the death of the tumor cells. [25][26][27][28][29] Furthermore, as the efficient killing power of PTT and the potent penetrating power of RT further compensate for the insufficient penetration depth of PTT, synergistic treatment with RT and PTT achieves better therapeutic efficacy than monotherapy.…”

Computation-Assisted Design of ssDNA Framework Nanorobots for Cancer Logical Recognition, Toehold Disintegration, Visual Dual-Diagnosis, and Synergistic Therapy

“…With the development of DNA nanomaterials, DNA nanorobots have exhibited great potential for intelligent drug delivery, based on the responses to molecular triggers. − As a breakthrough in nanotechnology, three-dimensional (3D) DNA nanostructures have been flexibly designed with controlled sizes, varied shapes, and spatial addressabilities . Nevertheless, current applications mainly concentrated on the configuration of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) in a “side-by-side” manner with bases as “bricks”.…”