Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) have primarily been used to achieve therapeutic gene modulation through antisense strategies since their design in the 1990s. However, the application of PNAs as a functional nanomaterial has been more recent. We recently reported that γ-modified peptide nucleic acids (γPNAs) could be used to enable formation of complex, self-assembling nanofibers in select polar aprotic organic solvent mixtures. Here we demonstrate that distinct γPNA strands, each with a high density of γ-modifications can form complex nanostructures at constant temperatures within 30 minutes. Additionally, we demonstrate DNA-assisted isothermal growth of γPNA nanofibers, thereby overcoming a key hurdle for future scale-up of applications related to nanofiber growth and micropatterning.
Keywords: isothermal assembly; nucleic acid nanotechnology; peptide nucleic acids; template-assisted growth.
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