Work

Curvature-Induced Base Pair “Slipping” Effects in DNA-Nanoparticle Hybridization

Year: 2008

Type: article

Abstract: Experiments are presented that suggest DNA strands chemically immobilized on gold nanoparticle surfaces can engage in two types of hybridization: one that involves complementary strands and normal base pairing interactions and a second one assigned as a "slipping" interaction, which can additionally stabilize the aggregate structures through non-Watson-Crick type base pairing or interactions less complementary than the primary interaction. The curvature of the particles appears to be a major factor that contributes to the formation of these slipping interactions as evidenced by the observation that flat gold triangular nanoprism conjugates of the same sequence do not support them. Finally, these slipping interactions significantly stabilize nanoparticle aggregate structures, leading to large increases in T(m)'s and effective association constants as compared with free DNA and particles that do not have the appropriate sequence to maximize their contribution.

Source: Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl8030482

Authors: Haley D. Hill, Sarah J. Hurst, Chad A. Mirkin

Institutions: Northwestern University, International Institute for Nanotechnology

Language: English

Topic: Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Awards: Nanomaterials for Cancer Diagnostics and Therapeutics, G9000165630