Supramolecular Self-Assembly of Pyrene-DNA Conjugates into Vesicles

Recently the supramolecular assembly of DNA conjugates has caught attention in supramolecular chemistry. DNA offer some unique characteristics allowing the design of complex nanostructures. The DNA framework allows the defined spatial arrangement of modifications. In previous work DNA was modified with phenanthrene sticky ends forming vesicular supramolecular assemblies with light-harvesting properties.[1] Interestingly, E-tetraphenylethylenes modifications at the 3’-ends of DNA led to aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active assemblies.[2] In this work, we modified a DNA strand at the 3’- and 5’-end with 2,7-pyrene (Figure 1A). AFM measurements of the 2,7-pyrene-DNA conjugates revealed their self-assembly into vesicles (Figure 1B). In addition to AFM studies, fluorescence and UV-vis spectroscopy measurements will be presented and discussed.