Nucleic acids are gaining significant attention as versatile building blocks for the next generation of soft materials. Due to significant advances in the chemical synthesis and biotechnological ...production, DNA becomes more widely available enabling its usage as bulk material in various applications. This has prompted researchers to actively explore the unique features offered by DNA‐containing materials like hydrogels. In this review article, recent developments in the field of hydrogels that feature DNA as a component either in the construction of the material or as functional unit within the construct and their biomedical applications are discussed in detail. First, different synthetic approaches for obtaining DNA hydrogels are summarized, which allows classification of DNA materials according to their structure. Then, new concepts, properties, and applications are highlighted such as DNA‐based biosensor devices, drug delivery platforms, and cell scaffolds. With the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine being awarded to cancer immunotherapy underscoring the importance of this therapy, DNA hydrogel systems designed to modulate the immune system are introduced. This review aims to give the reader a timely overview of the most important and recent developments in this emerging class of therapeutically useful materials of DNA‐based hydrogels.
DNA hydrogels are an emerging class of soft materials with great potential in biomedical applications. DNA offers unprecedented levels of programmability, enabling precise assembly of its constituent building blocks. Due to reversible interactions between complementary DNA strands, highly dynamic and bioactive materials can be constructed. They are explored as biosensors, drug delivery systems, cellular scaffolds, and for immunotherapy.
Measuring certain quantities at the nanoscale is often limited to strict conditions such as low temperature or vacuum. However, the recently developed nanodiamond (ND) quantum sensing technology ...shows great promise for ultrasensitive diagnosis and probing subcellular parameters at ambient conditions. Atom defects (i.e., N, Si) within the ND lattice provide stable emissions and sometimes spin‐dependent photoluminescence. These unique properties endow ND quantum sensors with the capacity to detect local temperature, magnetic fields, electric fields, or strain. In this review, some of the recent, most exciting developments in the preparation and application of ND sensors to solve current challenges in biology and medicine including ultrasensitive detection of virions and local sensing of pH, radical species, magnetic fields, temperature, and rotational movements, are discussed.
The recently developed nanodiamond (ND) quantum sensing technology shows great promise for ultrasensitive diagnosis and probing subcellular parameters within living cells at ambient conditions. In this review, some of the recent, most exciting developments of this technology, its potential, and challenges for solving current issues in biology and medicine are critically discussed.
Diamond Quantum Devices in Biology Wu, Yuzhou; Jelezko, Fedor; Plenio, Martin B ...
Angewandte Chemie,
June 1, 2016, Letnik:
55, Številka:
23
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The currently available techniques for molecular imaging capable of reaching atomic resolution are limited to low temperatures, vacuum conditions, or large amounts of sample. Quantum sensors based on ...the spin‐dependent photoluminescence of nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) centers in diamond offer great potential to achieve single‐molecule detection with atomic resolution under ambient conditions. Diamond nanoparticles could also be prepared with implanted NV centers, thereby generating unique nanosensors that are able to traffic into living biological systems. Therefore, this technique might provide unprecedented access and insight into the structure and function of individual biomolecules under physiological conditions as well as observation of biological processes down to the quantum level with atomic resolution. The theory of diamond quantum sensors and the current developments from their preparation to sensing techniques have been critically discussed in this Minireview.
Center of attention: Quantum sensors based on the spin‐dependent photoluminescence of nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) centers in diamond offer imaging with atomic resolution under ambient conditions, which might evolve as a revolutionary technique for the understanding of biomolecules in their native environment. The recent development of this technique, its potential, and challenges are critically discussed.
This Review summarizes the latest advances in the field of rylene dyes and rylene nanoemitters for applications in photonics, and describes the influence of the dye design on the optical properties, ...the self‐assembly, the molecular interactions, as well as the labeling specificity of the compounds. The interplay between tailored (macro)molecular design and bulk/single‐molecule spectroscopy enables complex processes to be explained, for example, the kinetics of energy‐transfer processes or (bio)catalysis. Such investigations are essential for the ultimate design of optimized nanoemitters, and require a close cooperation between spectroscopists and preparative organic chemists.
The synthetic transformation of polypeptides with molecular accuracy holds great promise for providing functional and structural diversity beyond the proteome. Consequently, the last decade has seen ...an exponential growth of site‐directed chemistry to install additional features into peptides and proteins even inside living cells. The disulfide rebridging strategy has emerged as a powerful tool for site‐selective modifications since most proteins contain disulfide bonds. In this Review, we present the chemical design, advantages and limitations of the disulfide rebridging reagents, while summarizing their relevance for synthetic customization of functional protein bioconjugates, as well as the resultant impact and advancement for biomedical applications.
Making two ends meet: Disulfide‐rebridging strategy (see figure) has emerged as a powerful tool for site‐selective modifications to expand the functional and structural diversity of peptides and proteins. In this Review, the development of this contemporary chemical strategy, as well as the resultant impact and advancement for biomedical applications are highlighted.
The term “in vivo (“in the living”) chemistry” refers to chemical reactions that take place in a complex living system such as cells, tissue, body liquids, or even in an entire organism. In contrast, ...reactions that occur generally outside living organisms in an artificial environment (e.g., in a test tube) are referred to as in vitro. Over the past decades, significant contributions have been made in this rapidly growing field of in vivo chemistry, but it is still not fully understood, which transformations proceed efficiently without the formation of by‐products or how product formation in such complex environments can be characterized. Potential applications can be imagined that synthesize drug molecules directly within the cell or confer new cellular functions through controlled chemical transformations that will improve the understanding of living systems and develop new therapeutic strategies. The guiding principles of this contribution are twofold: 1) Which chemical reactions can be translated from the laboratory to the living system? 2) Which characterization methods are suitable for studying reactions and structure formation in complex living environments?
Reactions are often carried out in a controlled laboratory environment using purified chemicals, but in recent years, there has been a shift to carrying out reactions directly in living organisms, known as in vivo chemistry. This approach provides a unique opportunity to study and intervene in biological processes or drug release in real time, in their natural environment.
Nature has evolved an optimal synthetic factory in the form of translational and posttranslational processes by which millions of proteins with defined primary sequences and 3D structures can be ...built. Nature's toolkit gives rise to protein building blocks, which dictates their spatial arrangement to form functional protein nanostructures that serve a myriad of functions in cells, ranging from biocatalysis, formation of structural networks, and regulation of biochemical processes, to sensing. With the advent of chemical tools for site-selective protein modifications and recombinant engineering, there is a rapid development to develop and apply synthetic methods for creating structurally defined, functional protein nanostructures for a broad range of applications in the fields of catalysis, materials and biomedical sciences. In this review, design principles and structural features for achieving and characterizing functional protein nanostructures by synthetic approaches are summarized. The synthetic customization of protein building blocks, the design and introduction of recognition units and linkers and subsequent assembly into structurally defined protein architectures are discussed herein. Key examples of these supramolecular protein nanostructures, their unique functions and resultant impact for biomedical applications are highlighted.
Functional protein nanostructures hold immense potential for a broad range of applications,
e.g.
, in material and biomedical sciences. In this article, the development of chemical toolboxes to build precise functional protein nanostructures that go beyond Nature's portfolio and their applications are summarized.
A versatile, bottom‐up approach allows the controlled fabrication of polydopamine (PD) nanostructures on DNA origami. PD is a biosynthetic polymer that has been investigated as an adhesive and ...promising surface coating material. However, the control of dopamine polymerization is challenged by the multistage‐mediated reaction mechanism and diverse chemical structures in PD. DNA origami decorated with multiple horseradish peroxidase‐mimicking DNAzyme motifs was used to control the shape and size of PD formation with nanometer resolution. These fabricated PD nanostructures can serve as “supramolecular glue” for controlling DNA origami conformations. Facile liberation of the PD nanostructures from the DNA origami templates has been achieved in acidic medium. This presented DNA origami‐controlled polymerization of a highly crosslinked polymer provides a unique access towards anisotropic PD architectures with distinct shapes that were retained even in the absence of the DNA origami template.
Starring PD: Defined polydopamine (PD) nanostructures were created on DNA origami templates. Multiple DNAzyme moieties precisely positioned on DNA origami oxidizes dopamine locally, which is crucial to control PD formation with nanoscale precision. The method provides a unique access towards the synthesis of anisotropic PD nanodevices coupled with precision spatial control.
Temperature is an essential parameter in all biological systems, but information about the actual temperature in living cells is limited. Especially, in photothermal therapy, local intracellular ...temperature changes induce cell death but the local temperature gradients are not known. Highly sensitive nanothermometers would be required to measure and report local temperature changes independent of the intracellular environment, including pH or ions. Fluorescent nanodiamonds (ND) enable temperature sensing at the nanoscale independent of external conditions. Herein, we prepare ND nanothermometers coated with a nanogel shell and the photothermal agent indocyanine green serves as a heat generator and sensor. Upon irradiation, programmed cell death was induced in cancer cells with high spatial control. In parallel, the increase in local temperature was recorded by the ND nanothermometers. This approach represents a great step forward to record local temperature changes in different cellular environments inside cells and correlate these with thermal biology.
Synthetic assembly within living cells represents an innovative way to explore purely chemical tools that can direct and control cellular behavior. We use a simple and modular platform that is ...broadly accessible and yet incorporates highly intricate molecular recognition, immolative, and rearrangement chemistry. Short bimodular peptide sequences undergo a programmed sequence of events that can be tailored within the living intracellular environment. Each sequential stage of the pathways beginning with the cellular uptake, intracellular transport, and localization imposes distinct structural changes that result in the assembly of fibrillar architectures inside cells. The observation of apoptosis, which is characterized by the binding of Annexin V, demonstrates that programmed cell death can be promoted by the peptide assembly. Higher complexity of the assemblies was also achieved by coassembly of two different sequences, resulting in intrinsically fluorescent architectures. As such, we demonstrate that the in situ construction of architectures within cells will broaden the community’s perspective toward how structure formation can impact a living system.
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