DNA-Functionalized Polymers and Nanoparticles for Gene Sensing

  • Published : 2006.10.13

Abstract

The graft copolymer consisting of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) and single-stranded DNA was prepared. Interestingly, the copolymer was found to form nanoparticles above physiological temperature. We found that non-crosslinking aggregation of the nanoparticles was induced by the hybridization of the surface-bound DNA with the full-match complementary DNA, but not with one-base mismatch. The core material is not restricted to PNIPAAm; DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticle was found to show a similar aggregation induced only by the fully-complementary DNA, resulting in rapid color change within 3 min at ambient temperature. This methodology is general in principle and applicable for wide variety of clinical gene diagnosis.

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