Ribbon of DNA Lattice on Gold Nanoparticles for Selective Drug Delivery to Cancer Cells

Herein, we report on the design of a programmable DNA ribbon using long-chain DNA molecules with a user-defined repetitive padlock sequence. The DNA ribbon can be further combined with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to create a composite nanomaterial that contains an AuNP core and a high-density DNA crown carrying a cancer-cell-targeting DNA aptamer, a fluorescent tag for location tracking, and a cell-killing drug. This composite material can be efficiently internalized by cancer cells and its cellular location can be tracked by fluorescence imaging. The system offers several attractive characteristics, including simple design, tunable DNA crown, high drug-loading capacity, selective cell targeting, and pH-sensitive drug release. These features make such a material a promising therapeutic agent.