Photoresponsive spherical nucleic acid: spatiotemporal control of the assembly circuit and intracellular microRNA release

Herein, we designed and prepared a photoresponsive spherical nucleic acid (SNA) conjugate by inserting a photocleavable linker into the recognition sequence of SNA which can block the reactivity of the system temporally until specific UV light (∼365 nm) is introduced. The photoresponsive SNA realizes temporal regulation of a self-assembly reaction circuit and spatial selectivity of microRNA release in a cell population, respectively.