Preliminary studies on noncovalent hyperbranched polymers based on PNA and DNA building blocks

In this work, the authors report thermodn., kinetic, and microrheol. studies relative to the formation of PNA- and PNA/DNA-based noncovalent polymeric systems, useful tools for biotechnol. and bioengineering applications. The authors realized two kinds of systems: a PNA-based system formed by a self-assembling PNA tridendron, and a PNA/DNA hybrid system formed by a PNA tridendron and a DNA linker. The formation of a three-dimensional polymeric network, by specific Watson-Crick base pairing, was investigated by a detailed UV and CD spectroscopic study. Preliminary microrheol. expts. were performed on both systems to evaluate their viscoelastic properties which resulted in agreement with the formation of sol. hyperbranched polymers that could be useful for drug/gene delivery, as well as for encapsulating org. pollutants of different shapes and sizes in environmental applications.