Hybrid Inorganic-Nucleic Acid Structures

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

Through this award, the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program is funding Professor Catalina Achim at Carnegie Mellon University to carry out studies of metal-containing, ligand-modified nucleic acid structures, with a particular emphasis on peptide nucleic acid (PNA) triplexes. Metal complexes with coordination number 3 to 6 will be incorporated in the PNA triplexes by substitution of a triplet of nucleobases with two or three mono-, bi-, or tri-dentate ligands. The ligand modification of PNA triplexes will be used to integrate metal ions with larger DNA nanostructures, which have an extensive range of topologies and geometries. This method may lead in the future to complex inorganic nucleic acid structures with interesting magnetic and electronic properties. Current technological advances and needs require the manufacturing of materials that have morphological features close to the size of molecules and atoms. A candidate for building blocks for such materials are nucleic acids, of which DNA is an example, because the information needed to assemble two- and three dimensional structures from nucleic acids can be encoded in their sequence just as the genetic information is encoded. Research in Professor Achim's group takes advantage of these properties of nucleic acids and makes use of chemical synthesis and spectroscopy methods to create and characterize metal-containing, nucleic acid nanostructures. The graduate and undergraduate students who conduct the research acquire knowledge and skills of chemistry, biology and physics. The results of the proposed research are integrated in a course on Functional Nanodevices Based on Nucleic Acids for graduate and undergraduate students. Professor Achim is the Director of DNAZone, the outreach program of the Center for Nucleic Acids Science and Technology at Carnegie Mellon. She and her students participate in the development and delivery of the outreach activities of DNAZone, which are intended to improve the engagement, attitudes and beliefs of 4th-12th grade students towards STEM careers.