Volume 133, Issue 12 pp. 6807-6817
Forschungsartikel

Scan and Unlock: A Programmable DNA Molecular Automaton for Cell-Selective Activation of Ligand-Based Signaling

Jinghui Zhang

Jinghui Zhang

State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082 P. R. China

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Zongyang Qiu

Zongyang Qiu

Zhejiang Provincial Laboratory of Life Sciences and Biomedicine, Key Laboratory of Structural Biology of Zhejiang Province, School of Life Sciences Westlake University, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou, 310024 P. R. China

Institute of Biology, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou, 310024 P. R. China

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Jiahui Fan

Jiahui Fan

State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082 P. R. China

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Fang He

Fang He

State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082 P. R. China

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Wenyuan Kang

Wenyuan Kang

State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082 P. R. China

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Sihui Yang

Sihui Yang

State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082 P. R. China

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Prof. Hong-Hui Wang

Corresponding Author

Prof. Hong-Hui Wang

State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082 P. R. China

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Prof. Jing Huang

Corresponding Author

Prof. Jing Huang

Zhejiang Provincial Laboratory of Life Sciences and Biomedicine, Key Laboratory of Structural Biology of Zhejiang Province, School of Life Sciences Westlake University, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou, 310024 P. R. China

Institute of Biology, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou, 310024 P. R. China

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Prof. Zhou Nie

Corresponding Author

Prof. Zhou Nie

State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082 P. R. China

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First published: 16 December 2020
Citations: 18

Dedicated to the 100th anniversary of chemistry at Nankai University.

Abstract

Selective modulation of ligand–receptor interaction is essential in targeted therapy. In this study, we design an intelligent “scan and unlock” DNA automaton (SUDA) system to equip a native protein-ligand with cell-identity recognition and receptor-mediated signaling in a cell-type-specific manner. Using embedded DNA-based chemical reaction networks (CRNs) on the cell surface, SUDA scans and evaluates molecular profiles of cell-surface proteins via Boolean logic circuits. Therefore, it achieves cell-specific signal modulation by quickly unlocking the protein-ligand in proximity to the target cell-surface to activate its cognate receptor. As a proof of concept, we non-genetically engineered hepatic growth factor (HGF) with distinct logic SUDAs to elicit target cell-specific HGF signaling and wound healing behaviors in multiple heterogeneous cell types. Furthermore, the versatility of the SUDA strategy was shown by engineering tumor necrotic factor-α (TNFα) to induce programmed cell death of target cell subpopulations through cell-specific modulation of TNFR1 signaling.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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