Biomod/2011/MIT/Origami

Abstract

Effective Drug Delivery Vehicles Exhibiting Specific Deformation Programmability

The synthetic technique of DNA origami, involving a single scaffold strand being folded into arbitrary shapes through the attachment of smaller staple strands to various locations along its sequence, has provided a powerfully programmable framework for the spatial design of nanostructures. Our research has involved adding an additional layer of programmability to these constructs, the ability to respond to external stimuli viz. electromagnetic radiation and pH by means of conformational changes. In particular we are exploring how these stimuli stabilize/destabilize linkers in the DNA origami so as to cause the structure to collapse and expand; thereby dramatically enhancing the utility of DNA nanostructures in controlled particle release. An immediately apparent application for such a technology is the precise delivery of drugs at certain targets as a result of stimulated release.