Controlling self-assembly of DNA-polymer conjugates for applications in imaging and drug delivery

Amphiphilic supramolecular structures such as micelles and vesicles can be formed through phase-driven self-assembly of monomer units having discrete hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks. These structures show great promise for use in medical and biological applications, and incorporating DNA as the hydrophilic block of the amphiphilic monomers enables the creation of assemblies that also take advantage of the unique information storage and molecular recognition capabilities of DNA. Recently, significant advances have been made in the synthesis of DNA-polymer conjugates (DPCs), controlling the morphology of DPC assemblies by altering monomer structure, and probing the effect of assembly on DNA stability and hybridization. Together, these investigations have laid the framework for using DPCs in drug delivery, cellular imaging, and other applications in materials science and chemistry.