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Updated: Sep 3, 2026
Viral Nanoparticles for In vivo Tumor Imaging
Published on: November 16, 2012
The applications of functionalized DNA nanostructures in bioimaging and cancer therapy
Yun Zeng1, Rachel L Nixon2, Wenyan Liu3
1Department of Chemistry, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, 65409, USA; Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuroimaging, Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710126, PR China.
Abstract:
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a molecular carrier of genetic information that can be fabricated into functional nanomaterials in biochemistry and engineering fields. Those DNA nanostructures, synthesized via Watson-Crick base pairing, show a wide range of attributes along with excellent applicability, precise programmability, and extremely low cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. In this review, the applications of functionalized DNA nanostructures in bioimaging and tumor therapy are summarized. We focused on approaches involving DNA origami nanostructures due to their widespread use in previous and current reports. Non-DNA origami nanostructures such as DNA tetrahedrons are also covered. Finally, the remaining challenges and perspectives regarding DNA nanostructures in the biomedical arena are discussed.
