Site-selective binding of nanoparticles to double-stranded DNA via peptide nucleic acid "invasion".

Stadler, Andrea L; Sun, Dazhi; Maye, Mathew M; van der Lelie, Daniel; Gang, Oleg · ACS Nano · 2011

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We demonstrate a novel method for by-design placement of nano-objects along double-stranded (ds) DNA. A molecular intercalator, designed as a peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-DNA chimera, is able to invade dsDNA at the PNA-side due to the hybridization specificity between PNA and one of the duplex strands. At the same time, the single-stranded (ss) DNA tail of the chimera, allows for anchoring of nano-objects that have been functionalized with complementary ssDNA. The developed method is applied for interparticle attachment and for the fabrication of particle clusters using a dsDNA template. This method significantly broadens the molecular toolbox for constructing nanoscale systems by including the most conventional not yet utilized DNA motif, double helix DNA.

Medical subject headings