DNA Nanostructures as Precision Therapies

DNA is the fundamental building block of life, the blueprint that defines who we are. But the very properties that make DNA such a reliable molecule for information storage also make it a remarkable building material. 

Our research group takes DNA out of its biological context and uses this molecule to build nanostructures, for applications in biology and materials science. By combining DNA with synthetic molecules and polymers, we create 3D-DNA host structures, such as cages, nanotubes, nanoparticles and fibers that are promising for targeted drug delivery. These nanomaterials can be precisely controlled in size, shape, and presentation of molecules on their surface; They selectively respond to environmental cues, ‘unzipping’ on contact with cancer-specific molecules and releasing drug cargo.

We find that they resist nuclease degradation and silence gene expression to a significantly greater extent than their component strands. They achieve strong therapeutic outcomes in vivo, in multiple organs and disease sites, unlike other nucleic acid treatments that only target the liver. We will describe the applications of these DNA structures as drug delivery vehicles to cancer cells. 

We will also discuss the ability of small molecules to reprogram the assembly of DNA, away from Watson-Crick-Franklin base-pairing and into new motifs for drug delivery and tissue regeneration.

BIO
Hanadi Sleiman is a Professor of Chemistry and Canada Research Chair in DNA Nanoscience at McGill University. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University, and was a CNRS postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn’s laboratory at the Université Louis Pasteur. She joined the faculty at McGill University in 1999, and her research group focuses on using the molecule DNA as a template to assemble nanostructured materials.

Sleiman is Fellow of the Royal Society (London) and of the Royal Society of Canada, and was Associate Editor of J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2017-25). Among her research recognitions are the Canadian Society for Chemistry E. W. R. Steacie Award (2024), NSERC Polanyi Award (2021), Izatt-Christensen Award in Supramolecular Chemistry (2016) and Killam Research Fellowship (2018).

Sleiman also received the Society of Chemical Industry Kalev Pugi award (2024), Cottrell STAR Award (2021), Albus Award (Grifols, 2018), Canadian Society of Chemistry R. U. Lemieux Award in Organic Chemistry (2018), Netherlands Scholar Award in Supramolecular Chemistry (2018), Canadian Society for Chemistry Strem Award (2009), NSERC Discovery Accelerator (2008), McGill Dawson Award (2004-13), Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (2004-12) and Cottrell Scholar (Research Corp., 2002). She received named lectureships including Ayer (U. Alberta), Hirschmann (U. Wisconsin-Madison), BP Sustainability (U. Cambridge), Bristol-Myers-Squibb (Columbia U. and MIT), Swiss Chemical Society (U. Genève, EPFL, U. Neuchâtel, U. Fribourg, U. Basel) and E. Gordon Young (Chemical Institute of Canada).

Sleiman is Editorial Advisory Board member of J. Org. Chem., ChemBioChem, and Trends in Chem. She received the McGill Principal’s Prize (2002) and the Leo Yaffe Award (2005) for Excellence in Teaching.