Bioinspired functional DNA-nanomaterial conjugates for diagnostic and therapeutic applications

Xing, Hang

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Description

Title

Bioinspired functional DNA-nanomaterial conjugates for diagnostic and therapeutic applications

Author(s)

Xing, Hang

Issue Date

2015-01-21

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Lu, Yi

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Lu, Yi

Committee Member(s)

• Cheng, Jianjun
• Granick, Steve
• Suslick, Kenneth S.

Department of Study

Chemistry

Discipline

Chemistry

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Functional DNA
• Nanomaterials
• Diagnostic and therapeutic applications
• Janus nanoparticle
• Liposome
• Organic nanoparticle

Abstract

The study of the interface between chemistry, biology, and materials science not only advances the fundamental understandings of phenomena and materials at the nanoscale regime, but also produces novel functional materials with promising applications. Nanomaterials with size similar to biological molecules and systems have shown great promise for diagnostic and therapeutic applications due to their unique properties, such as fluorescent, plasmonic, magnetic, electrochemical, and other physical properties. To realize the full potential of nanomaterials for biomedical applications, nanomaterials have further been engineered with various surface functions. Among them, functional DNA (fDNA), as an analogue of antibodies and enzymes, has emerged as a new class of recognition agents for the functionalization of nanomaterials to allow specific binding against biological targets. Despite great achievements over the past decades, three major challenges still remain in developing nanomaterials towards better clinical theranostics. First, a general method for quantitative detection of biological substrates in vitro and in vivo has to be proposed. Second, the development of multifunctional nanomaterials for multimodal detection and targeted drug delivery should be achieved. Third, fine-tuning of the physical characteristics and biological properties of nanomaterials at the molecular level is required. In this document, new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and tools are demonstrated correspondingly to address the above-mentioned challenges by integrating fDNA with well-designed nanomaterials. First, the development of a quantitative ratiometric probe by using fDNA-Janus nanoparticle conjugates is presented. Second, a general platform using fDNA and liposomes is developed for the multimodal detection of small molecules and targeted breast cancer chemotherapy. Third, a novel single chain polymer-based organic nanoparticle system is demonstrated with a variety of carefully fine-tuned functionalities. The fDNA-nanomaterial conjugates demonstrated in this document not only possess attractive properties for diagnosis and therapeutic applications but also inspire the design and development of future biomedical tools.

Graduation Semester

2014-12

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Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2014 Hang Xing

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