The increasing incidence of chronic diseases worldwide has encouraged the discovery of treatment alternatives for chronically ill patients. To increase patient compliance and diminish secondary effects, delayed drug release systems have been developed. However, current pharmaceutical coatings still face limitations in targeting, loading efficiency, and pH tunability when administered orally. In this thesis, we demonstrate the potential of using atomic layer deposition (ALD) as a technique to coat 5-Aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA)—a drug to treat inflammatory bowel disease—to control 5-ASA's release throughout the gastrointestinal tract. 5-ASA was coated with 300 cycles of Al2O3 and 200 cycles ZnO ALD and was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning transmission electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and UV-visible spectroscopy, to confirm 5-ASA as a viable ALD substrate and its ability to be studied at a wavelength of 298 nm for release rate characterization. Three different form factors of 5-ASA—pellets, films, and powders— which were coated with 300 cycles of Al2O3 ALD were studied via UV-Vis in acidic HCl pH 4 media. To further understand the etching rate of Al2O3 films, quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) crystals were coated following the same ALD protocols used in our UV-Vis studies. Based on the results gathered from 5-ASA coated with Al2O3 ALD, equivalent studies were made with ZnO inorganic film coatings via ALD. This thesis demonstrates and encourages ALD's potential in coating 5-ASA as a proof-of concept to achieve delayed and controlled drug release that is tunable based on the ALD coating thickness and chemistry.

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Due to their biocompatibility and parallel data processing, DNA computational devices are highly desired for applications in diagnosis and treatment of cancer, infectious and genetic diseases. Much like in modern electronic devices, DNA computation is based on the logic gates - by directly interacting with DNA or RNA input molecules, they produce a specific output depending on their embedded logic function. This work is devoted to the development of functional parts of a future DNA nanorobot for biomedical applications. Specifically, we used DNA nanotechnology and the concept of multicomponent DNA probes to develop three parts of the DNA nanorobot: computing, actuating, and sensing. The computation function was addressed by developing construct with two integrated NAND gates, capable of processing three different DNA or RNA inputs. The second "smart" construct produces actuating function – cleavage of RNA for housekeeping gene in response to recognition of RNA inputs, generated by cancer cells. The third construct is an original DNA "Cephalopod-tile", with improved sensing function, capable of recognizing highly structured biological analytes, such as 16S rRNA of E.coli, as well as increasing hybridization kinetics with targets up to 465 times. These nanoconstructs contributed to development of original DNA nanomachine with OR logic function for treatment of cancer. Theses for Defense 1. Computing: It is possible to design tile-associated DNA NAND logic gates that can be integrated in communicating circuits. 2. Actuating: It is possible to create a DNA nano-construction that can cut out a marker fragment from a longer RNA sequence and use it as an activator for triggering cleavage of another RNA sequence. 3. Sensing: A DNA probe equipped with analyte capture function can increase hybridization rates between DNA and RNA analytes. 4. Sensing, computation, and actuating: It is possible to design multifunctional DNA nanomachines with sensing, computation, and therapeutic modules.

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