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DNA nanotechnology is a rapidly growing research field, in which DNA is applied as a building material for various types of nanostructures and -materials. In Nature, DNA molecules store the genetic information of organisms. With the toolkit of DNA nanotechnology, the molecules are shaped into precise nanostructures.

DNA carries drugs and folds into origami shapes

As a biomaterial, DNA is well suited for instance for medical applications.

“At the moment, plenty of research is being conducted on how drugs could be delivered to cells and tissues in the body in a targeted manner using DNA nanostructures. DNA nanostructures have diverse potential in drug delivery, but the new technology requires still plenty of research and development”, tells the doctoral student Heini Ijäs.

In the PhD work of Ijäs, DNA nanostructures were constructed with the “DNA origami” method. DNA origami structures are made by folding a long DNA genome of a bacteriophage into a desired shape with the help of short DNA strands. DNA origami shapes are typically only dozens or hundreds of nanometers in size, but they can be designed to be structurally highly complex.

The shapes of DNA origami are tailored for specific applications

The study showed that the structural precision of DNA origami structures is a key factor for various versatile functions.

When different DNA origami shapes were loaded with the cancer drug doxorubicin, the shape of the origami determined how quickly the drug was released when enzymes of the blood digested the DNA.

The DNA origami method was also used for constructing nanodevices that responded to the pH of the solution. The devices could be opened and closed with small pH changes. For studying drug delivery, molecules were loaded inside capsule-like DNA origami. The capsules were closed at low pH and the loaded molecules were displayed to the surroundings when the pH was increased. The structural changes of the DNA devices could be detected with spectroscopic and electrochemical methods. This underpins the development of DNA origami –based biosensors.

“The study gave us a lot of new information on how DNA origami structures can be loaded with other molecules, what kind of physical and chemical properties they have, and how they might behave in the challenging conditions in the bloodstream. The obtained knowledge will help the research field to take a step towards concrete medical and diagnostic applications”, summarizes Ijäs.

The PhD work has been funded by the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation and the Emil Aaltonen Foundation.

The research is published in JYU Dissertations series, number 360. Jyväskylä, 2021. ISBN 978-951-39-8556-1 (PDF), URN:ISBN:978-951-39-8556-1, ISSN 2489-9003
Link to publication:

M.Sc. Heini Ijäs defends her doctoral dissertation "Functional DNA nanostructures for molecular transportation and biosensing" on Friday 12th of March 2021 at the Ģ��ֱ�� starting at noon. Opponent Professor is Kurt V. Gothelf (Aarhus University, Denmark) and Custos is Professor Janne Ihalainen (Ģ��ֱ��). The doctoral dissertation is held in English.

The audience can follow the dissertation online.
Link to the Zoom Webinar event (Zoom application or Google Chrome web browser recommended): 

Phone number to which the audience can present possible additional questions at the end of the event (to the custos): +358 40 024 7979