POS8-0529
DNA-Mediated force transmission for precise and efficient mechanophore activation
Topic
S8. Frontiers of Functional Polymers in Biology and Medicine
When and Where
Oct 1, 2026
08:30 - 09:30
Room 301 (Grand Ballroom)
Session Chairs
Jinkee HONG
Ki Su KIM
Presenter(s)
Soobin Lee (Pukyong National University)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
Mechanophores (MPs) are typically embedded in synthetic polymers to enable force-mediated chemical transformations. In contrast to traditional systems that require hours of sonication, DNA-based systems enable reactions to complete in minutes and are compatible with high-throughput analysis using gel electrophoresis. By designing DNA-mechanophore-DNA architectures with tunable lengths (100 to 1000 base pairs) and different synthetic mechanophores, we achieve nearly complete mechanophore scission (99.9%) while using medical ultrasound. DNA sequencing and mass spectrometry confirm selective bond cleavage in DNA architectures. This DNA-based system offers a time- and cost-efficient platform for mechanophore development providing a versatile approach to carrying out mechanochemistry research in general.
