The self-assembly of block copolymers into micellar structures has produced great advances in nanoscience, ranging from nanoelectronics to drug delivery. Structural control of polymer micelle morphology is currently achieved by adjusting the chemistry of the polymer chains in the different blocks, the polymer architecture and external environment, and growth of these self-assembled structures is generally isotropic. On the other hand, sequence controlled polymers such as DNA offer the possibility of total anisotropic spatial control. Strand sequences can be programmed to assemble into well-defined two- and three-dimensional structures of any size and shape. This talk will focus on our group's current efforts to position synthetic polymers and dendrimers on DNA cages and nanotubes. Using these hybrid cages, we will describe a new mode of protein-inspired interaction: When hydrophobic polymeric units are organized in a specific orientation on a DNA cube, the chains can engage in an intermolecular �handshake� across two cubes, resulting exclusively in a cube dimer. With a different orientation, these units can engage in a �handshake� inside the cube. This forms a monodisperse micelle within a DNA cage. This structure encapsulates small hydrophobic molecules, and releases them with added DNA strands of specific sequences. Thus, when polymeric chains are anisotropically organized on DNA scaffolds, new cooperative, directed interactions emerge. Applications of our structures as tools for conditional delivery of therapeutics inside cells will be discussed.?

Interfacing DNA nanostructures with synthetic polymers and dendrimers

246th National Meeting (2013)

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