Open AccessKinetic Adsorption Profile and Conformation Evolution at the DNA-Gold Nanoparticle Interface Probed by Dynamic Light Scattering
Author(s) -
Wenjie Wang,
Xiaoyun Ding,
Mengchang He,
Jing Wang,
Xinhui Lou
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
analytical chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.117
H-Index - 332
eISSN - 1520-6882
pISSN - 0003-2700
DOI - 10.1021/ac502440h
Subject(s) - chemistry , dynamic light scattering , adsorption , colloidal gold , kinetics , oligonucleotide , nanoparticle , dna , diffusion , crystallography , sticky and blunt ends , particle (ecology) , chemical physics , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , base pair , thermodynamics , materials science , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering , oceanography , geology
The kinetic adsorption profile at the DNA-gold nanoparticle (AuNP) interface is probed by following the binding and organization of thiolated linear DNA and aptamers of varying chain lengths (15, 30, 44, and 51 mer) to the surface of AuNPs (13.0 ± 1.0 nm diameter). A systematic investigation utilizing dynamic light scattering has been performed to directly measure the changes in particle size during the course of a typical aging-salting thiolated DNA/AuNP preparation procedure. We discuss the effect of DNA chain length, composition, salt concentration, and secondary structure on the kinetics and conformation at the DNA-AuNP interface. The adsorption kinetics are chain-length dependent, composition independent, and not diffusion rate limited for the conditions we report here. The kinetic data support a mechanism of stepwise adsorption of thiols to the surface of AuNPs and reorganization of the thiols at the interface. Very interestingly, the kinetic increases of the particle sizes are modeled accurately by the pseudo-second-order rate model, suggesting that DNA could possess the statistically well-defined conformational evolution. Together with other experimental evidence, we propose a dynamic inner-layer and outer-tail (DILOT) model to describe the evolution of the DNA conformation after the initial adsorption of a single oligonucleotide layer. According to this model, the length of the tails that extend from the surface of AuNPs, capable for hybridization or molecular recognition, can be conveniently calculated. Considering the wide applications of DNA/AuNPs, the results should have important implications in sensing and DNA-directed nanoparticle assembly.