Rapid Capture and Release of Nucleic Acids through a Reversible Photo-Cycloaddition Reaction in a Psoralen-Functionalized Hydrogel

Reversible immobilization of DNA and RNA is of great interest to researchers who seek to manipulate DNA or RNA in applications such as microarrays, DNA hydrogels, and gene therapeutics. However, there is no existing system that can rapidly capture and release intact nucleic acids. To meet this unmet need, we developed a functional hydrogel for rapid DNA/RNA capture and release based on the reversible photo-cycloaddition of psoralen and pyrimidines. The functional hydrogel can be easily fabricated through copolymerization of acrylamide with the synthesized allylated psoralen. The psoralen-functionalized hydrogel exhibits effective capture and release of nucleic acids spanning a wide range of lengths in a rapid fashion; over 90% of the capture process is completed within 1 min, and circa 100% of the release process is completed within 2 min. We observe no deleterious effects on the hybridization to the captured targets.