Using antibodies to control DNA-templated chemical reactions

DNA-templated synthesis uses the programmability of DNA-DNA interactions to accelerate chemical reactions under dilute conditions upon sequence-specific hybridization. This study reports the rational design of DNA-templated synthesis controlled by specific IgG antibodies. The approach uses the co-localization of reactants induced by the bivalent binding of a specific IgG antibody to two antigen-conjugated DNA templating strands, triggering a chemical reaction that would otherwise be slow. This versatile, orthogonal strategy is adaptable to different IgG antibodies and can synthesize clinically-relevant molecules in the presence of specific IgG biomarker antibodies.

Lorena Baranda Pellejero, Malihe Mahdifar, Gianfranco Ercolani, Jonathan Watson, Tom Brown Jr, Francesco Ricci