TY - JOUR A1 - Kedracki, Dawid A1 - Chekini, Mahshid A1 - Maroni, Plinio A1 - Schlaad, Helmut A1 - Nardin, Corinne T1 - Synthesis and Self-Assembly of a DNA Molecular Brush JF - Biomacromolecules : an interdisciplinary journal focused at the interface of polymer science and the biological sciences N2 - We report herein on the polymer-crystallization-assisted thiol-ene photosynthesis of an amphiphilic comb/graft DNA copolymer, or molecular brush, composed of a hydrophobic poly(2-oxazoline) backbone and hydrophilic short single-stranded nucleic acid grafts. Coupling efficiencies are above 60% and thus higher as compared with the straight solid-phase-supported synthesis of amphiphilic DNA block copolymers. The DNA molecular brushes self-assemble into sub-micron-sized spherical structures in water as evidenced by light scattering as well as atomic force and electron microscopy imaging. The nucleotide sequences remain functional, as assessed by UV and fluorescence spectroscopy subsequent to isoindol synthesis at the surface of the structures. The determination of a vesicular morphology is supported by encapsulation and subsequent spectroscopy monitoring of the release of a water-soluble dye and spectroscopic quantification of the hybridization efficiency (30% in average) of the functional nucleic acid strands engaged in structure formation: about one-half of the nucleotide sequences are available for hybridization, whereas the other half are hindered within the self-assembled structure. Because speciation between complementary and non complementary sequences in the medium could be ascertained by confocal laser scanning microscopy, the stable self-assembled molecular brushes demonstrate the potential for sensing applications. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/bm5008713 SN - 1525-7797 SN - 1526-4602 VL - 15 IS - 9 SP - 3375 EP - 3382 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Schlaad, Helmut A1 - Luedecke, Nils T1 - Bio-sourced chelating poly(2-oxazoline)s T2 - Abstracts of papers : joint conference / The Chemical Institute of Cananda, CIC, American Chemical Society, ACS Y1 - 2019 SN - 0065-7727 VL - 257 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER -