Nucleolipoplexes: A new paradigm for phospholipid bilayer-nucleic acid interactions

We report on the interaction of nucleolipid lamellar phases with complementary single strand oligonucleotides, which gives rise to spontaneous ordering of DNA in between the lamellae with formation of a 1D lattice of polynucleotide chains, with a characteristic spacing.These findings open up new perspectives in the fabrication of lipid/nucleic acid complexes, up to now obtained by favorable coulumbian interactions or the presence of divalent cations.The proof of principle that chemical design based on molecular recognition can be the driving force for bioconjugate constructs establishes a new paradigm with potentially important impact both in a biomedical field and in supramolecular chemistry.