Research @ Cambridge

Cavendish Laboratory

DNA-based Neutralisers Could Detect and Inhibit a Wide Range of Viruses

DNA-based Neutralisers Could Detect and Inhibit a Wide Range of Viruses

For most acute viral diseases, there are no effective treatments available. Therapeutic approaches with the ability to target many types of viruses are currently scarce. Finding innovative treatments is vital to improve global health.

In recent years, people have started to see DNA as more than just a carrier of genetic information. Now, it’s being used in medicine and nanotechnology. DNA is popular for these new uses because it is safe for the body, long-lasting, and easy to obtain and modify.

Figure 2: Schematic of the mechanism of action of a DNA-based virus neutraliser. The DNA nanostructure (represented by a blue head and a purple tail) binds to proteins (in green) found on the surface of the virus (in red). In this way, the virus is detected and inhibited, preventing infection, and achieving cell immunity.

The project described here aims to achieve immunity against viral infections by employing DNA-based nanostructures. The work, supervised by Roger Rubio Sánchez, Lorenzo Di Michele, and Ioanna Mela, is mainly based at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge.

Figure 1: Double-helix DNA with two strands of DNA winding around each other by exploiting the interactions between complementary base pairs (A, T, C, G) in the two strands. Credit: Shutterstock

The work draws inspiration from biology, particularly from the mechanisms that our immune system employs to combat viruses. It aims to replicate these processes in synthetic systems by exploiting the tools of DNA nanotechnology. In particular, DNA molecules are used as building blocks to build bottom-up nano-scale devices with precise structures and functions. In this case, we focus on DNA-based nanostructures, which can act as potential virus neutralisers by binding to the viral surface and inhibiting infection.

The DNA double helix is a structure resembling a twisted ladder. Its sides are made of sugar and phosphate molecules, and its rungs are pairs of bases (A-T and C-G). A DNA sequence and structure are defined by the specific ordered arrangement of its bases (A, T, C, G).

Thanks to their base sequence, the DNA nanostructured neutralisers can specifically bind to proteins on the surface of viruses. In this way, the nanostructures are able to bind to a specific virus and render it innocuous (Fig. 2). Different DNA sequences and nanostructure shapes will be tested to optimise the nanodevice ability to bind viruses and block infection pathways, achieving DNA-based antiviral activity.

Once our binding mechanism is tested, the next phase of the project will be to extend the DNA-based neutralisers to a broader range of viruses, creating a DNA toolkit that can effectively treat different types of viral infection. This will be done by tweaking parts of the DNA nanostructure, while still maintaining the fundamental framework of the nanodevice.

Such programmable DNA toolkit has the potential to revolutionize the biomedical field by introducing a stable, cost-effective, and easily available solution against viral infections.

Sofia Benedetti

NanoDTC PhD Student, c2023

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