DNA intelligent hydrogel research: fixed-point time "hetero-convergence" of new ideas.

DNA hydrogel is a new type of bio-molecular functional material, usually composed of synthetic or naturally extracted DNA as raw material, three-dimensional cross-linking to form a space network.
DNA intelligent hydrogel is a completely new concept, because dna itself is a biological large molecule, the formation of hydrogel will have a good biological compatible, and DNA has intelligent responsiveness will make it different from ordinary chemical hydrogel, to achieve the "intelligence" of hydrogel Researchers at the Institute of Physical Biology at the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have made progress in the design, preparation and patterning of interface DNA intelligent hydrogels, which have the potential to play an important role in the next generation of drug vectors, tissue engineering, intelligent devices, etc., according to work published online in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 2171)。
of DNA intelligent hydrogel research details the common DNA hydrogel preparation using the "versus polymerization" idea, it is difficult to fully reflect the programmability of DNA molecules.
Under the guidance of researchers Liu Huajie and Yu Chunhai, Wang Jianping, Ph.D. graduate student, put forward a new idea of fixed-point timed "hetero-convergence", so that the DNA 3D gel network can be gradually formed in a controlled and orderly process, and realize the gelization reaction from the source and internal control.
they developed a new "clamp HCR" principle to transform HCR from one-dimensional linearity to three-dimensional network crosslinking.
that DNA gelization in the new method will start with the addition of HCR reaction triggers and gradually form networks and strengthen them through subsequent cascading reactions.
this is very different from the simultaneous crosslinking of various raw materials in the "all-in-one polymerization".
, DNA hydrogels obtained using the new method have by far the highest structural strength under the same DNA dosing conditions.
this new approach provides a new solution for building complex gel patterns and conceptually changes the traditional reliance on molds to prepare materials for specific shapes.
they first "printed" the gel-inducing agent on a solid substrate, and by preset the pattern at the interface to induce a subsequent gel reaction to form the desired gel pattern.
this work provides a new way of thinking for the development of DNA intelligent materials, and has a good application prospect in the fields of detection sensing, biopharmaceuticals, catalysis, and is expected to combine 3D printing technology to achieve the construction of intelligent devices.
source: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics.