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Design of an artificial functional nanomaterial with high recognition ability

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Abstract

An artificial macromolecule was designed as a novel nanomaterial with the backbone of phosphodiester and the side chain of functional molecules and nucleobases. The functional molecules tethered on d-threoninol and the nucleosides on d-ribose can be lined up with any sequence and any ratio by using standard phosphoramidite chemistry. The nucleobases that form Watson–Crick base pairs provide the sequence recognition which is required for constructing complicate nanostructures. The multiple functional molecules give applicable and advanced functions such as photoresponsiveness when azobenzenes were used. Unexpectedly, a stable double helix was formed even in the case that the ratio of azobenzene molecules and base pairs was as high as 2:1. More interestingly, this artificial duplex showed high sequence specificity: the stability decreased greatly when a mismatched base pair was present. Furthermore, the formation and dissociation of the constructed artificial duplex were reversibly and completely modulated with light irradiation. By using this new nanomaterial, a variety of functional nanostructures and nanodevices are promising to be designed. The possibility of our system being used for DNA computing is also discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Core Research for Evolution Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). Partial support was provided by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Design and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan

    Xingguo Liang, Toshio Mochizuki, Taiga Fujii, Hiromu Kashida & Hiroyuki Asanuma

  2. College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

    Xingguo Liang

Authors
  1. Xingguo Liang
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  2. Toshio Mochizuki
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  3. Taiga Fujii
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  4. Hiromu Kashida
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  5. Hiroyuki Asanuma
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Correspondence to Xingguo Liang or Hiroyuki Asanuma.

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Liang, X., Mochizuki, T., Fujii, T. et al. Design of an artificial functional nanomaterial with high recognition ability. Nat Comput 11, 231–238 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11047-012-9303-3

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