Mechanical properties modulation and biological applications of DNA hydrogels

DNA hydrogels are three-dimensional polymer networks constructed using DNA as the structural building block. Due to the tight binding between hydrophilic groups on DNA chains and water molecules, they exhibit outstanding plasticity and fluid thermodynamic properties, making them one of the best choices for mimicking natural biological tissues. By controlling the backbone building blocks, gelation conditions, and cross-linking methods of DNA hydrogels, hydrogels with different mechanical strengths can be obtained, thus expanding their applications in the field of biology. This review first introduces the relationship between the mechanical properties of DNA hydrogels and their structure, elucidates the approaches and strategies for mechanical property modulation, and focuses on the scheme of controllable design to modulate the mechanical properties of DNA hydrogels for applications in biosensing, cellular function regulation, and bone tissue engineering. Furthermore, this review outlines the future development directions and challenges faced in the mechanical property modulation of DNA hydrogels, providing useful information for the precise design of DNA hydrogels for biological research.