Thermodynamic Studies on PNA and PNA/DNA Dendrimer Formation

In this work we report a kinetic and thermodynamic study relative to the formation of gel systems based on PNA and PNA/DNA dendrimers, useful for drug delivery or diagnostic applications. We realized two kinds of systems: a PNA-based monomolecular system formed by an autoassembling PNA tridendron (A) and a PNA/DNA bimolecular system based on a PNA tridendron with a mixed sequence and a DNA crosslinker (B). Both systems have the ability to form a three-dimensional network by means of specific WC base pairing.