Deoxyribozymes (DNAzymes) are catalytic oligonucleotides that have shown great potential in regulating gene expression in animal models. The main challenge to the widespread adoption of DNAzymes as therapeutics pertains to limitations in cellular delivery and intracellular stability. To address these challenges, we synthesized polyvalent DNAzyme-gold nanoparticle (DzNP) conjugates and investigated their catalytic properties.  This presentation will discuss the properties of these multi-enzyme assemblies and the role of DNAzyme  density, linker length and composition, and enzyme orientation on catalysis. Importantly we demonstrate that certain DzNPs can be photo-activated with high spatial and temporal resolution using visible wavelengths (?= 532 nm).  We will also show that DzNPs can readily enter mammalian cells to catalytically regulate gene expression in model cancer cell lines.

DNAzyme-nanoparticle conjugates: From cooperative catalytic properties to gene knockdown

244th National Meeting (2012)

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