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Back Cover: Membrane‐Spanning DNA Nanopores with Cytotoxic Effect (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 46/2014)
Author(s) -
Burns Jonathan R.,
AlJuffali Noura,
Janes Sam M.,
Howorka Stefan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201409587
Subject(s) - nanopore , dna , membrane , cover (algebra) , nanotechnology , biophysics , cytotoxic t cell , lipid bilayer , cancer cell , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , materials science , cancer , biology , biochemistry , in vitro , genetics , engineering , mechanical engineering
Reducing the viability of cancerous tissues is relevant in biomedicine and basic research. In their Communication on page 12466 ff., S. Howorka et al. show that cancer cells can be killed by rupturing their plasma membrane with DNA nanopores. The piercing of cells only occurs when the DNA pores carry an outer hydrophobic belt for bilayer insertion. Future development will pave the way for targeting specific cancer types or for the more general shuttling of drugs into cells.