A major breakthrough in biotechnology has occurred in Taiwan. The research and development team of Liao Weiqing from the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Yangming Jiaotong University has successfully used DNA to create hydrogel capsules. This capsule can encapsulate drugs or signal sources and react with specific cells in the body at the molecular level. Sensing first and then treating precision medicine.
The R&D team of Yangming Jiaotong University used the properties of DNA’s four base-specific pairings to coat the DNA layer by layer on calcium carbonate through the hybridization chain polymerization reaction to assemble a spherical three-dimensional structure. After removing the calcium carbonate, the formation of Hollow spherical DNA hydrogel capsules that can encapsulate drugs or signal sources, such as fluorescent molecules and fluorescent quantum dots.
This nanoscale capsule can be embedded with DNA with special functions, so that the capsule has a function similar to a mechanical switch. It will only open after detecting a specific molecule or the pH value of the environment, and then release it in a stimuli-responsive manner. drug or signal source.
In order to test the DNA capsule, the R&D team further embedded the microRNA-141 sensing sequence on the bridging DNA of the capsule. When the capsule detects the target microRNA existing in the environment, it induces DNA sequence replacement, and the capsule will unlock like a key, and then The signal molecules encapsulated in it are released, and the amount of microRNA expression in the environment can be measured.
Even through the isothermal strand displacement polymerization/nicking amplification machinery (isoth), a large amount of stimulatory factors can be generated in a short time to open the capsule, making the detection of microRNA more accurate and rapid.
Scientists use nucleic acid nanotechnology to use microRNA as the key switch to open the DNA capsule, but because of the correlation between microRNA and cancer and the difficulty of detection, this technology will help to effectively shorten the detection time and achieve practically applicable detection. test limit.
Liao Weiqing said that in addition to encapsulating signal sources, DNA capsules can be used for in vitro biomarker detection, and can also be used to load therapeutic drugs. Due to the high biocompatibility of DNA, there will be opportunities to develop drug delivery with controlled release in vivo. system.
The series of research by Liao Weiqing’s research team focuses on the development of DNA-related nanotechnology, using chemical methods and technologies, combined with the properties of self-assembly, sensing and structural reorganization of DNA molecules, and applying them in the field of biomedicine to try to solve important scientific problems today. question.
The research was jointly carried out by Taiwan and Israel, and supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, and was assisted by Master Zhang Wenxin and Master Li Yifang. The research results were published in Nanoscale, a nanoscale scientific research journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
(Source of the first image: Yangming Jiaotong University)
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