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- ItemElectrostatically PEGylated DNA enables salt-free hybridization in water(Cambridge : RSC, 2019) Chakraborty, Gurudas; Balinin, Konstantin; Portale, Giuseppe; Loznik, Mark; Polushkin, Evgeny; Weil, Tanja; Herrmann, AndreasChemically modified nucleic acids have long served as a very important class of bio-hybrid structures. In particular, the modification with PEG has advanced the scope and performance of oligonucleotides in materials science, catalysis and therapeutics. Most of the applications involving pristine or modified DNA rely on the potential of DNA to form a double-stranded structure. However, a substantial requirement for metal-cations to achieve hybridization has restricted the range of applications. To extend the applicability of DNA in salt-free or low ionic strength aqueous medium, we introduce noncovalent DNA-PEG constructs that allow canonical base-pairing between individually PEGylated complementary strands resulting in a double-stranded structure in salt-free aqueous medium. This method relies on grafting of amino-terminated PEG polymers electrostatically onto the backbone of DNA, which results in the formation of a PEG-envelope. The specific charge interaction of PEG molecules with DNA, absolute absence of metal ions within the PEGylated DNA molecules and formation of a double helix that is significantly more stable than the duplex in an ionic buffer have been unequivocally demonstrated using multiple independent characterization techniques. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.
- ItemMechanochemical activation of disulfide-based multifunctional polymers for theranostic drug release(Cambridge : RSC, 2021) Shi, Zhiyuan; Song, Qingchuan; Göstl, Robert; Herrmann, AndreasDrug delivery systems responsive to physicochemical stimuli allow spatiotemporal control over drug activity to overcome limitations of systemic drug administration. Alongside, the non-invasive real-time tracking of drug release and uptake remains challenging as pharmacophore and reporter function are rarely unified within one molecule. Here, we present an ultrasound-responsive release system based on the mechanochemically induced 5-exo-trigcyclization upon scission of disulfides bearing cargo molecules attachedviaβ-carbonate linker within the center of a water soluble polymer. In this bifunctional theranostic approach, we release one reporter molecule per drug molecule to quantitatively track drug release and distribution within the cell in real-time. We useN-butyl-4-hydroxy-1,8-naphthalimide and umbelliferone as fluorescent reporter molecules to accompany the release of camptothecin and gemcitabine as clinically employed anticancer agents. The generality of this approach paves the way for the theranostic release of a variety of probes and drugs by ultrasound. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020.
- ItemSonopharmacology: controlling pharmacotherapy and diagnosis by ultrasound-induced polymer mechanochemistry(Cambridge : RSC, 2022) Yildiz, Deniz; Göstl, Robert; Herrmann, AndreasActive pharmaceutical ingredients are the most consequential and widely employed treatment in medicine although they suffer from many systematic limitations, particularly off-target activity and toxicity. To mitigate these effects, stimuli-responsive controlled delivery and release strategies for drugs are being developed. Fueled by the field of polymer mechanochemistry, recently new molecular technologies enabled the emergence of force as an unprecedented stimulus for this purpose by using ultrasound. In this research area, termed sonopharmacology, mechanophores bearing drug molecules are incorporated within biocompatible macromolecular scaffolds as preprogrammed, latent moieties. This review presents the novelties in controlling drug activation, monitoring, and release by ultrasound, while discussing the limitations and challenges for future developments.
- ItemCorrection: Mechanochemical activation of disulfide-based multifunctional polymers for theranostic drug release(Cambridge : RSC, 2021) Shi, Zhiyuan; Song, Qingchuan; Göstl, Robert; Herrmann, AndreasCorrection for ‘Mechanochemical activation of disulfide-based multifunctional polymers for theranostic drug release’ by Zhiyuan Shi et al., Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 1668–1674, DOI: 10.1039/D0SC06054B.
- ItemPerforming DNA nanotechnology operations on a zebrafish(Cambridge : RSC, 2018) Yang, Jian; Meng, Zhuojun; Liu, Qing; Shimada, Yasuhito; Olsthoorn, René C. L.; Spaink, Herman P.; Herrmann, Andreas; Kros, AlexanderNanoscale engineering of surfaces is becoming an indispensable technique to modify membranes and, thus cellular behaviour. Here, such membrane engineering related was explored on the surface of a living animal using DNA nanotechnology. We demonstrate the immobilization of oligonucleotides functionalized with a membrane anchor on 2 day old zebrafish. The protruding single-stranded DNA on the skin of zebrafish served as a handle for complementary DNAs, which allowed the attachment of small molecule cargo, liposomes and dynamic relabeling by DNA hybridization protocols. Robust anchoring of the oligonucleotides was proven as DNA-based amplification processes were successfully performed on the outer membrane of the zebrafish enabling the multiplication of surface functionalities from a single DNA-anchoring unit and the dramatic improvement of fluorescent labeling of these animals. As zebrafish are becoming an alternative to animal models in drug development, toxicology and nanoparticles characterization, we believe the platform presented here allows amalgamation of DNA nanotechnology tools with live animals and this opens up yet unexplored avenues like efficient bio-barcoding as well as in vivo tracking. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.