Beyond the Canonical DNA Double-Helix: Supramolecular Assemblies of Chemically Modified Nucleic Acids and their Applications
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioorganic Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 October 2021) | Viewed by 13886
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Nucleic acids and more particularly DNA are central for life on Earth. Beyond the central dogma of molecular biology that converts the double-stranded DNA into mRNAs followed by proteins, nucleic acids were later found to serve many other roles such as enzymes (ribozymes), receptors (natural riboswitchs and artificial aptamers) and regulators of genetic expression (RNA interference, antisense, etc.). Many of these phenomena do not necessarily rely on the traditional Watson–Crick base pairing scheme. While the level of control and complexity achieved by nature in the building of nucleic acid-based supramolecular assemblies is outstanding, chemists have long sought to improve or impart these assemblies with new properties through chemical modification and/or conjugation to other molecules. This Special Issue intends to cover all aspects of chemically modified supramolecular assemblies of artificial nucleic acids and their applications that do not primarily capitalize on conventional Watson–Crick base pairing; or when the biophysics of the DNA duplexes are purposely altered—for instance, in nanoparticle–DNA conjugates. The topics covered range from the design and biophysics of such artificial systems based on both hard and soft matter to their application in diagnosis, catalysis, biomedical devices, etc.
Dr. Arnaud Gissot
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- DNA
- RNA
- Chemically modified nucleic acids
- Conjugated nucleic acids
- Supramolecular assemblies
- Soft matter
- Nanoparticle–DNA conjugates
- G-quadruplex
- i-motif
- Aptamers
- Triplex
- Origami
- Spherical nucleic acids
- Diagnosis
- Biophysics
- Molecular recognition
- DNA/RNAzyme
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