Novel Classes of Photoresponsive DNA Aptamers

该项目将尝试选择DNA适体，以选择在紫外线和可见光波长下具有典型光物理性质的光致变色剂。本研究选择的光致变色材料具有优异的热还原特性，因此可以完全用光子能量来解决。目前，仅有少数基于rna的适体可用于基本的光致变色分子，尚未找到进一步的应用。近年来在选择选择性强结合的小分子适体和改进的新型光致变色元件方面取得的进展表明，为这些选定的分子选择DNA适体的时机已经成熟。在获取适配体时，我们将同时使用捕获SELEX和更传统的可靠支持方法，以便我们有尽可能多的机会获得好的适配体。在截断和彻底表征之后，我们将把它们应用到我们的dsDNA纳米架构中，以证明它们在使用完全不同波长的光控制组件间运动方面的适用性。这将是首次将适体用作DNA联锁结构中的结合元件，并将产生可光切换的DNA联锁系统，而无需使用由许多AB核苷代物组成的可能浪费的脚点ROs，尤其是在可见光区域。然而，在本提案的主体中选择的DNA适体将在其他领域具有大量的潜在应用。将DNA适体的生物学相容性与修饰的新型光致变色元件的可见光波长转换相结合，将为合成生物学和光化学遗传学等领域提供新的途径。

The proposed project will attempt to select DNA aptamers for a selection of photochromes that possess exemplary photophysical properties both in ultra-violet and visible wavelengths. The photochromes chosen for this study have excellent thermal-reversionproperties so can be addressed exclusively with photonic energy. Currently, only few RNA-based aptamers are available for basic photochromic molecules and have not found further application. The advances in recent years towards the selection of selective, strong binding aptamers for small molecules and improved and novel photochromic elements suggest the time is ripe to select DNA aptamers for these selected molecules. We will use both capture SELEX and more traditional solid-support approaches in gaining our aptamers to give ourselves as much opportunity to gain good aptamers. After truncation and thorough characterisation, we will then apply them to our dsDNA nanoarchitectures to demonstrate their applicability in controlling intercomponent motion using exclusively different wavelengths of light. This will be the first time that aptamers have been employed as binding elements within DNA interlocked structures and will engender light-switchable DNA interlocked systems without the use of arguably wasteful toehold ROs composed of a number of AB nucleoside surrogates, most notably in the visible-light region. However, the DNA aptamers selected within the main body of this proposal will have a plethora of potential applications in other fields. Fields such as those of synthetic biology and optochemical genetics will be offered new avenues by combining the putative biological compatibility of DNA aptamers and the visible light wavelength-switching of modified and novel photochromic elements.