Pristine DNA Hydrogels from Biotechnologically Derived Plasmid DNA. Issue 39 (17th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nöll, Tanja; Wenderhold‐Reeb, Sabine; Schönherr, Holger; Nöll, Gilbert
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 56:Issue 39(2017)
• Page Start: 12004
• Page End: 12008
• Publication Date: 2017-08-17
• Subjects: DNA nanotechnology -- hydrogels -- ligation -- rheology -- self-assembly; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201705001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

Abstract: DNA hydrogels are of great interest for a variety of biomedical applications owing to their biocompatibility and biodegradability but the advantages of DNA hydrogels have not been exploited yet because of their limited availability. Thus far, DNA hydrogels have been prepared from synthetically derived building blocks, and their production on large scale would be far too expensive. As an alternative, here the generation of DNA hydrogels from plasmid DNA is reported. Plasmid DNA can be prepared on large scale at reasonable costs by a fermentation process. The desired linear DNA building blocks are then obtained from the plasmid DNA by enzymatic digestion. Gel formation is carried out by covalent bond formation between individual building blocks via enzymatic ligation. The generation of pristine DNA hydrogels from plasmid DNA is thus presented for the first time. The viscoelastic properties of the hydrogels were studied by rheology, which confirmed that the gels have storage moduli G′ of >100 Pa. Abstract : (De)construction : Pristine DNA hydrogels were formed from biotechnologically derived plasmid DNA through ligation of longer or shorter fragments, obviating the need for DNA building blocks prepared by solid‐phase synthesis. The rheological properties of the hydrogels can be adjusted by varying the length and sequence of the employed fragments as well as the experimental conditions.