Programmed nucleic acid assembly for nanomedicines

Nanometer-scale therapeutic agents provide the possibility for a degree of cellular interactions not available with conventional medicines. The gold standard for innovations in such nanomedicines is what early 20th century German physician Paul Ehrlich termed the 'magic bullet', a drug that acts upon only the diseased part of the body without causing any adverse off-target effects. Successful realization of this concept requires coordination between multiple embedded functions such as target recognition, molecular storage and conditional payload release. Currently, the programmed self-assembly of DNA and other similar nucleotide-based polymers is the most advanced method for constructing multifunctional, nanometer-scale structures. Through a few simple rules and design concepts, it is possible to create objects of precisely known shape and molecular composition that can be imbued with specifically triggered mechanisms of action. This emerging technology is still in its preclinical phase, but a growing number of studies continue to demonstrate its potential to broadly impact biomedicine. Beyond the simple targeted delivery of therapeutic molecules, nucleotide-based agents are also promising candidates to trigger specific immune responses and form the basis for a new generation of functional nanomedicines.