Tailoring DNA Self-assembly to Build Hydrogels
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Updated: Dec 26, 2025
Author Spotlight: Improving the Production of Self-Assembling Fibers and Peptide Hydrogels for Superior Biocompatibility
Published on: September 6, 2024
Jie Chen1,2, Ying Zhu1,3, Huajie Liu4
1Division of Physical Biology, CAS Key Laboratory of Interfacial Physics and Technology, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201800, China.
Abstract:
DNA hydrogels are crosslinked polymeric networks in which DNA is used as the backbone or the crosslinker. These hydrogels are novel biofunctional materials that possess the biological character of DNA and the framed structure of hydrogels. Compared with other kinds of hydrogels, DNA hydrogels exhibit not only high mechanical strength and controllable morphologies but also good recognition ability, designable responsiveness, and programmability. The DNA used in this type of hydrogel acts as a building block for self-assembly or as a responsive element due to its sequence recognition ability and switchable structural transitions, respectively. In this review, we describe recent developments in the field of DNA hydrogels and discuss the role played by DNA in these hydrogels. Various synthetic strategies for and a range of applications of DNA hydrogels are detailed.
