RNA-Polymer Hybrids via Direct and Site-Selective Acylation with the ATRP Initiator and Photoinduced Polymerization

Combining synthetic polymers with RNA paves the way for creating RNA-based materials with non-canonical functions. We have developed an acylation reagent that allows for direct incorporation of the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiator into both short synthetic oligoribonucleotides and natural biomass RNA extracted from torula yeast. The acylation was performed in a quantitative yield. The resulting initiator-functionalized RNAs were used for grafting polymer chains from the RNA by photoinduced ATRP, resulting in RNA-polymer hybrids with narrow molecular weight distributions. The RNA initiator was used for the polymerization of oligo(ethylene oxide) methyl ether methacrylate, poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate, and N-isopropylacrylamide monomers, resulting in RNA bottlebrushes, hydrogels, and stimuli-responsive materials. This approach, readily applicable to both post-synthetic and nature-derived RNA, can be used to engineer the properties of a variety of RNA-based macromolecular hybrids and assemblies providing access to a wide variety of RNA-polymer hybrids.