Scientists made tiny DNA structures called dendrons that can grab onto peptides like thymosin‑alpha‑1 and help cells take them in much better. In lab tests, these DNA dendrons got inside most cells quickly and delivered over 20 times more material than regular DNA strands, boosting the peptide’s activity. While promising, the technique is still early‑stage and not yet ready for personal use.

Herein, a method for synthesizing and utilizing DNA dendrons to deliver biomolecules to living cells is reported. Inspired by high-density nucleic acid nanostructures, such as spherical nucleic acids, we hypothesized that small clusters of nucleic acids, in the form of DNA dendrons, could be conjugated to biomolecules and facilitate their cellular uptake. We show that DNA dendrons are internalized by 90% of dendritic cells after just 1 h of treatment, with a >20-fold increase in DNA delivery per cell compared with their linear counterparts. This effect is due to the interaction of the DNA dendrons with scavenger receptor-A on cell surfaces, which results in their rapid endocytosis. Moreover, when conjugated to peptides at a single attachment site, dendrons enhance the cellular delivery and activity of both the model ovalbumin 1 peptide and the therapeutically relevant thymosin alpha 1 peptide. These findings show that high-density, multivalent DNA ligands play a significant role in dictating cellular uptake of biomolecules and consequently will expand the scope of deliverable biomolecules to cells. Indeed, DNA dendrons are poised to become agents for the cellular delivery of many molecular and nanoscale materials.