Controlled Assembly of DNA to Array Nanoparticle

Abstract

Highly selective base-pairing rules in DNA can be utilized as a tool for forming nano architecture. Holliday Junction, where two different DNA double strands intersect and replace each complement strand, is an important artificial motif for forming two-dimensional "plane" conformation of DNA. In this study, we controlled the growth of the DNA "plane" conformation by changing temperature. A set of DNA single chains were cooled from 90°C to 4°C for10 minutes, to form the DNA "plane" conformation. The influence of the cooling procedure on the DNA conformation was observed by AFM (atomic force microscope), and it is found that the DNA "plane" conformation is strongly dependent on the cooling process. Further, we assembled gold nano particle using the DNA conformation, and observed the assembly of gold nano particle on the DNA conformation by AFM and TEM (transmission electron microscopy).