Collective cell behaviors manipulated by synthetic DNA nanostructures

Cellular collective motion in confluent epithelial monolayers is involved in many processes such as embryo development, carcinoma invasion, and wound healing. The development of new chemical strategies to achieve large-scale control of cells’ collective motion is essential for biomedical applications. Here a series of DNA nanostructures with different dimensions were synthesized and their influences on cells’ collective migration and packing behaviors in epithelial monolayers were investigated. We found that the framed DNA nanoassemblies effectively reduced the cells’ speed by increasing the rigidity of cells, while the lipid-DNA micelles had a more pronounced effect on cells’ projection area and shape factor. These DNA nanostructures all significantly enhanced the dependence of cells’ speed on their shape factor. Our results indicate that cells’ mobility in monolayers can be manipulated by chemical intercellular interactions without any genetic intervention. This may provide a new chemical strategy for tissue engineering and tumor therapy.