DNA-Tetrahedra Corona-Modified Hydrogel Microcapsules: “Smart” ATP- or microRNA-Responsive Drug Carriers

Amit Fischer, Pu Zhang, Yu Ouyang, Yang Sung Sohn, Ola Karmi, Rachel Nechushtai, Eli Pikarsky, Itamar Willner*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

The assembly of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-responsive and miRNA-responsive DNA tetrahedra-functionalized carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogel microcapsules is presented. The microcapsules are loaded with the doxorubicin-dextran drug or with CdSe/ZnS quantum dots as a drug model. Selective unlocking of the respective microcapsules and the release of the loads in the presence of ATP or miRNA-141 are demonstrated. Functionalization of the hydrogel microcapsules a with corona of DNA tetrahedra nanostructures yields microcarriers that revealed superior permeation into cells. This is demonstrated by the effective permeation of the DNA tetrahedra-functionalized microcapsules into MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, as compared to epithelial MCF-10A nonmalignant breast cells. The superior permeation of the tetrahedra-functionalized microcapsules into MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, as compared to analog control hydrogel microcapsules modified with a corona of nucleic acid duplexes. The effective permeation of the stimuli-responsive, drug-loaded, DNA tetrahedra-modified microcapsules yields drug carriers of superior and selective cytotoxicity toward cancer cells.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2204108
JournalSmall
Volume18
Issue number52
DOIs
StatePublished - 28 Dec 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Keywords

  • cancer
  • controlled release
  • doxorubicin
  • drug delivery
  • quantum dots

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