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Modular DNA strand-displacement controllers for directing material expansion

Joshua Fern,Rebecca Schulman

Published 2018 in Nature Communications

ABSTRACT

Soft materials that swell or change shape in response to external stimuli show extensive promise in regenerative medicine, targeted therapeutics, and soft robotics. Generally, a stimulus for shape change must interact directly with the material, limiting the types of stimuli that may be used and necessitating high stimulus concentrations. Here, we show how DNA strand-displacement controllers within hydrogels can mediate size change by interpreting, amplifying, and integrating stimuli and releasing signals that direct the response. These controllers tune the time scale and degree of DNA-crosslinked hydrogel swelling and can actuate dramatic material size change in response to <100 nM of a specific biomolecular input. Controllers can also direct swelling in response to small molecules or perform logic. The integration of these stimuli-responsive materials with biomolecular circuits is a major step towards autonomous soft robotic systems in which sensing and actuation are implemented by biomolecular reaction networks. Materials which change shape in response to a trigger are of interest for soft robotics and targeted therapeutic delivery. Here, the authors report on the development of DNA-crosslinked hydrogels which can expand upon the detection of different biomolecular inputs mediated by DNA strand-displacement.

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