Hybrid Inorganic-Nucleic Acid Structures

通过这一奖项，大分子、超分子和纳米化学计划资助卡内基梅隆大学的Catalina Achim教授开展含有金属的、配体修饰的核酸结构的研究，特别是多肽核酸(PNA)三链的研究。配位数为3到6的金属络合物将通过用两个或三个单齿、双齿或三齿配体取代三个碱基而被结合到PNA三联体中。PNA三联体的配体修饰将用于将金属离子与更大的DNA纳米结构相结合，这些纳米结构具有广泛的拓扑和几何结构。这种方法可能在未来导致复杂的无机核酸结构具有有趣的磁性和电学性质。目前的技术进步和需求要求制造具有接近分子和原子大小的形态特征的材料。构建这类材料的候选材料是核酸，DNA就是一个例子，因为从核酸组装二维和三维结构所需的信息可以按照它们的序列进行编码，就像遗传信息被编码一样。阿希姆教授团队的研究利用了核酸的这些特性，并利用化学合成和光谱方法来创建和表征含有金属的核酸纳米结构。进行研究的研究生和本科生获得化学、生物和物理的知识和技能。建议的研究结果被整合到研究生和本科生的基于核酸的功能纳米器件课程中。阿希姆教授是卡内基梅隆大学核酸科学与技术中心的外展项目DNAZone的主任。她和她的学生参与了DNAZone外展活动的开发和实施，这些活动旨在提高4-12年级学生对STEM职业的参与度、态度和信念。

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.