![]() "Culturing cells in DyNAtrix can help answer questions in developmental biology, it could be used to culture tissues for regenerative medicine, or to test the effect of specific drug candidates with patient-derived cells. Remarkably, their material is also self-healing, and can easily be integrated with 3D printing technology to produce a variety of complex 3D tissues and structures. The dynamic DNA-crosslinked matrix created by Krieg and his colleagues, dubbed DyNAtrix, could be used to culture a variety of cells in a laboratory setting, including human pluripotent stem cells and organoids. "The sequences of the DNA libraries also control important characteristics of the material, such as the plasticity and stiffness at different temperatures." "One key innovation was our use of DNA-based 'libraries'-complex mixtures of DNA strands-which make cross-linking highly efficient," Krieg said. These modules are plugged into the material to program its properties and characteristics, allowing it to perform in specific ways, The second component of the team's material is comprised of unique DNA modules. "They have DNA side chains that allow further DNA-based modules to integrate into the material, cross-link the polymer, and supplement it with specific functions." "These polymer chains serve as a structural scaffold for the material," Krieg said. The first are heavy biologically functional polymer chains. To create a material that is versatile, synthetic, biocompatible, programmable and affordable, the researchers merged two different components. Last but not least, it was important to us for the material to be inexpensive, as we hoped it would be applied by many other groups in the future." "Our goal was to create a material that is fully synthetic, biocompatible, and-most importantly-its mechanical behavior should be adjustable without drastically changing its chemical composition. "We hoped that by using principles of DNA nanotechnology, we could precisely control the properties of our soft material to optimally support cells and guide their development," Krieg explained. Human induced pluripotent stem cell cyst in DyNAtrix. Its objective was to create a soft hydrogel matrix that could host living cells and could thus be used to engineer tissue, organoids, medical implants, and other biophysical systems. The recent work by Krieg and his colleague Yu-Hsuan Peng builds on previous research efforts in this field. Past DNA nanotechnology studies showed that DNA can be re-programmed to control the properties of matter at a nanometer scale. The field of DNA nanotechnology, first established by Ned Seeman, focuses on the design and manufacturing of artificial DNA structures with possible biomedical and biophysical applications. Our group tries to make materials that are more akin to living matter: adaptive, self-healing, and programmed to fulfill specific functions." But these materials are very static-it is not easy to change their properties, once broken they cannot heal themselves, and their characteristics are difficult to predict. "Think of everyday products like toys and packaging, but also bullet-proof vests, parachutes, medical implants, etc. "Polymer chemistry can create materials with wonderful properties," Elisha Krieg, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told. These materials, introduced in Nature Nanotechnology, are versatile, programmable and relatively inexpensive, making them advantageous for medical and biological research. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Technische Universität Dresden and other institutes in Germany recently designed new fully synthetic materials with a dynamic DNA-crosslinked matrix that could prove useful for the creation of organoids (artificial organs) and other bio-mimetic systems.
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