Premium
Supramolecular Materials Comprising Nucleic Acid Biopolymers
Author(s) -
Smitthipong Wirasak,
Neumann Thorsten,
Chworos Arkadiusz,
Jaeger Luc,
Tirrell Matthew
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.200850403
Subject(s) - nucleic acid , amphiphile , lamellar structure , cationic polymerization , supramolecular chemistry , small angle x ray scattering , materials science , supramolecular assembly , crystallography , chemistry , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , scattering , polymer , biochemistry , crystal structure , optics , copolymer , physics , engineering
We have generated a supramolecular self‐assembling film by exchanging the counter‐ions of the phosphate moieties in nucleic acid with those of cationic amphiphiles as didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (or DDAB). SAXS and WAXS data for all film samples showed similar harmonic peaks suggesting a lamellar multilayer structure with layers of nucleic acids being separated by lipid bilayers of DDAB. AFM height images also showed that double stranded nucleic acid film can form the step or plateau type of structure and shorter nucleic acid film showed shorter step feature. Moreover, the length and the molecular structure of DNA and RNA can be used to manipulate the mechanical properties of these self‐assembled films.