Controlled Assembly of Vesicle-Based Nanocontainers on Layer-by-Layer Particles via DNA Hybridization

The advantages of layer-by-layer (LbL) particles, liposomes, and specific base pairing interactions of DNA were combined to construct LbL particles coated with a tunable arrangement of several layers of large unilamellar vesicles (LUV). LUVs were attached to the LbL-A21 particles through hybridization by using complementary lipophilic oligonucleotides that were incorporated into lipid membranes. The results show that one oligonucleotide hybrid is formed per 200 nm2 of the LbL-A21 particle surface. Using the minor groove-binding fluorescent dye Hoechst, it is found that the binding of LT18-LUVs to LbL-A21 particles is mediated by dsDNA. LA17 can hybridize with LT18 into the first layer of LUVs, indicating defects of the second layer that make oligonucleitides from the first layer accessible. The results also show that binding through hybridization do not interfere with the stability of LUVs and the layers on the LBL-A21 particles consist of intact lipid vesicles.