Small Molecule Self-Assembly in Aqueos Media

在亚细胞水平上，人类像其他生物一样，通过自我组装的过程来构建和编排维持健康生活所必需的无数结构。事实上，细胞是使用超分子纳米结构的极其复杂的超分子实体。然而，不适当的自组装也会导致阿尔茨海默氏症、镰状细胞贫血等疾病。因此，掌握水介质中的分子自组装可以在开发新的诊断和治疗方法方面取得巨大进展。超分子化学通过在其分子构件中编程适当的信息，为构建自制的纳米结构提供了一种有吸引力的策略。到目前为止，超分子化学在有机介质中自组装构建复杂的分子结构方面取得了重大进展，但在水介质中的研究相对滞后。基于小分子仅通过非共价相互作用结合在一起的离散合成超分子的例子仍然相对较少。在开发合适的识别模体方面存在差距，这些识别模体易于制作，并在水环境中提供稳健和可靠的自我识别特性。在识别具有高特异性和亲和力的G-四链DNA(QDNA)的有效配体的开发方面也存在差距。我们建议通过制备小分子鸟嘌呤(G)衍生物(目标1)并研究它们在水中的自组装(目标2)来填补这些空白。所得到的超分子作为自组装配体(SAL)用于QDNA的特定识别(目标3)，将突出它们的有用性。由于QDNA在端粒功能和某些癌基因调控中的重要作用，它一直是研究的热点。随之而来的超分子应该会通过开发更好的诊断探针和疗法来推动我们扩大纳米医学分子‘工具箱’的长期目标。

At the subcellular level, humans like other organisms build and choreograph the countless structures essential to maintaining a healthy life by the process of self-assembly. Cells are in fact, enormously complex supramolecular entities that employ supramolecular nanoconstruction. Yet, improper self- assembly can also lead to diseases such as Alzheimer's, sickle-cell anaemia, etc. Therefore, mastering molecular self-assembly in aqueous media can lead to great advances in developing novel diagnostics and therapeutics. Supramolecular chemistry offers an attractive strategy for constructing self-made nanostructures by programming the appropriate information in their molecular building blocks. So far, supramolecular chemistry has made significant advances in constructing complex molecular machinery by self-assembly in organic media, but studies in aqueous media have lagged behind. There are still relatively few examples of discrete synthetic supramolecules based on small molecules held together solely with non-covalent interactions. There is a gap in the development of appropriate recognition motifs that are easy to make and offer robust and reliable self-recognition properties in aqueous environments. There is also a gap in the development of efficacious ligands that recognize G-quadruplex DNA (QDNA) with high specificity and affinity. We propose to fill these gaps by making small molecule guanine (G) derivatives (Aim 1) and studying their self-assembly in water (Aim 2). The usefulness of the resulting supramolecules will be highlighted by their use as self-assembled ligands (SALs) for the specific recognition of QDNA (Aim 3). QDNA is the subject of intense studies due to its putative role in telomere function and in the regulation of some oncogenes. The ensuing supramolecules should further our long-term goal of expanding nanomedicine's molecular 'toolbox' by developing better diagnostic probes and therapeutics.