11 May 2015 – Everyone knows DNA is rapidly degraded by enzymes in serum; except it isn’t–at least not always. While most studies of DNA in serum use fetal bovine serum, which exhibits a high enzyme activity and does degrade DNA rapidly, few studies have looked at DNA nanostructures in human serum. With the aim of creating new tools for biomedical diagnostic applications in humans (sorry bovines!), Sara Goltry, a PhD student in Materials Science & Engineering at Boise State, and co-workers measured the lifetimes of DNA devices in human serum and blood. The results of their four-year study, published recently in Nanoscale, show that some DNA nanostructures survive in human serum for about two days while others last only about an hour. Interestingly, the device lifetime can be programmed by changing the shape of the molecule. Beyond lifetime studies, Goltry also demonstrated that a circular DNA nanomachine operates in human serum and blood just fine. The nanomachine can be made to open and close with DNA fuels, similar to the DNA tweezers first published by Yurke et al. in 2000. Demonstrating operation in serum and blood supports the goal of building programmable molecular machines as a means to engineer new DNA-based tools for biotechnology.
Led by Prof. Elton Graugnard, this work was part of a multidisciplinary collaboration among graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, and staff from the Departments of Materials Science & Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics.