Recent Advances in Amphiphilic Polymer-Oligonucleotide Nanomaterials via Living/Controlled Polymerization Technologies

Bioconjug Chem. 2019 Jul 17;30(7):1889-1904. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.9b00166. Epub 2019 Apr 19.

Abstract

Over the past decade, the field of polymer-oligonucleotide nanomaterials has flourished because of the development of synthetic techniques, particularly living polymerization technologies, which provide access to polymers with well-defined architectures, precise molecular weights, and terminal or side-chain functionalities. Various "living" polymerization methods have empowered chemists with the ability to prepare functional polymer-oligonucleotide conjugates yielding a library of architectures, including linear diblock, comb, star, hyperbranched star, and gel morphologies. Since oligonucleotides are hydrophilic and synthetic polymers can be tailored with hydrophobicity, these amphiphilic polymer-oligonucleotide conjugates are capable of self-assembling into nanostructures with different shapes, leading to many high-value-added biomedical applications, such as drug delivery systems, gene regulation, and 3D-bioprinting. This review aims to highlight the main living polymerization approaches to polymer-oligonucleotide conjugates, including ring-opening metathesis polymerization, atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), reversible addition-fragmentation transfer polymerization (RAFT), and ring-opening polymerization of cyclic esters and N-carboxyanhydride. The self-assembly properties and resulting applications of polymer-DNA hybrid materials are highlighted as well.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic / methods
  • Drug Delivery Systems
  • Humans
  • Nanostructures / chemistry*
  • Nanostructures / ultrastructure
  • Nanotechnology / methods
  • Oligonucleotides / chemical synthesis
  • Oligonucleotides / chemistry*
  • Polymerization*
  • Polymers / chemical synthesis
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Surface-Active Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Surface-Active Agents / chemistry*

Substances

  • Oligonucleotides
  • Polymers
  • Surface-Active Agents