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DNA Nanostructures: From Design to Biological Function

Presented by Prof. Hanadi Sleiman
Hosted By Prof. Colin Nuckolls

Abstract:
DNA is known to us as the molecule of life, the blueprint that defines who we are. But the very properties that make DNA such a reliable molecule for information storage also make it one of the most remarkable building materials.

Over the past few years, our research group has taken DNA out of its biological context and has used this molecule to build nanostructures, for applications in biology and materials science. Starting from a minimum number of DNA components, we create 3D-DNA host structures, such as cages, nanotubes and spherical nucleic acids that are promising for targeted drug delivery. They can be precisely controlled in size, shape, and presentation of molecules on their surface; they can load drug cargo and deliver it on demand, in response to disease-specific biological triggers. We find that they resist nuclease degradation, silence gene expression, and have a favorable in vivo distribution profile. The applications of these DNA structures as drug delivery vehicles to cancer cells will be described. We will also discuss the ability of small molecules to completely reprogram the assembly of DNA, away from Watson-Crick-Franklin base-pairing into new motifs.

Bio:
Hanadi Sleiman is Professor of Chemistry and Canada Research Chair in DNA Nanoscience at McGill University. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University and was a CNRS postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn’s laboratory at the Université Louis Pasteur. She joined the faculty at McGill University in 1999, and her research group focuses on using the molecule DNA as a template to assemble nanostructured materials for drug delivery and diagnostics.

Sleiman is Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Associate Editor of J. Am. Chem. Soc., and Editorial Advisory Board member of Chem, JOC, and ChemBioChem. Among her recognitions are the NSERC John C. Polanyi Award (2021), Research Corporation Cottrell STAR award (2021), Killam Research Fellowship (2018), CSC R. U. Lemieux Award (2018), Netherlands Scholar Award in Supramolecular Chemistry (2018), Izatt-Christensen Award in Supramolecular Chemistry (2016), Swiss Chemical Society Lectureship (2012), CIC E. Gordon Young Award (2011), CSC Strem Award (2009).  She received the McGill Principal’s Prize and the Leo Yaffe Award for Excellence in Teaching.

More About Prof. Sleiman

References:
1. N. Seeman, H. Sleiman, DNA Nanotechnology, Nat. Rev. Mat., 2017, 17068.
2. F. Rizzuto, C. Platnich, X. Luo, M. Dore, C. Lachance-Brais, G. Cosa, H. Sleiman, A dissipative
pathway for the structural evolution of DNA fibers, Nat. Chem., 2021, 13, 843–849.
3. M. Dore, T. Trinh, D. de Rochambeau, P. Xu, J. Li, H. F. Sleiman, Chem, 2021, 7, 2395-2414.
4. K. E. Bujold, J. C. C. Hsu and H. F. Sleiman; Optimized DNA “Nanosuitcases” for Encapsulation
and Conditional Release of siRNA, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 14030–14038.