The findings represent an important step towards the development of smart, ‘intelligent’ drugs that may allow better control of the medication for rheumatism and Crohn’s disease, for example, with fewer side-effects and at lower cost. 

Research into diagnostic tests tends to focus on the recognition of antibodies, says research leader Maarten Merkx. “What is special about this system is that it can think and that it can be connected to actuation such as drug delivery.”

To be able to perform such an action, ‘intelligence’ is needed, a role that is performed in this system by a DNA computer. DNA is best known as the carrier of genetic information, but DNA molecules are also highly suitable for performing molecular calculations. The sequence within a DNA molecule determines with which other DNA molecules it can react, which allows a researcher to program specific reaction circuits. 

To date biomedical applications of DNA computers have been limited because the input of DNA  computers typically consists of other  DNA and RNA molecules. To determine whether someone has a particular disease, it is essential to measure the concentration of specific antibodies – agents that our immune system produces when we are ill. Merkx and his colleagues are the first to have succeeded in linking the presence of antibodies to a DNA computer.

Their method translates the presence of each antibody into a unique piece of DNA whereby the DNA computer can decide on the basis of the presence of one or more antibodies whether drug delivery, for example, is necessary. “The presence of a particular DNA molecule sets in motion a series of reactions whereby we can get the DNA computer to run various programs,” explains PhD student and primary author Wouter Engelen. “Our results show that we can use the DNA computer to control the activity of enzymes, but we  think it should also be possible to control the activity of a therapeutic antibody.”

In treating chronic diseases like rheumatism or Crohn’s disease, such therapeutic antibodies are used as medication. One of the potential applications of this system is to measure the quantity of therapeutic antibodies in the blood and decide whether it is necessary to administer any extra medication. Merkx: “By directly linking the measurement of antibodies to the treatment of the disease, we may be able to prevent side-effects and reduce costs in the future.”

Source: TU/e Press Team