This is a gold nanoparticle, brought into contact to a DNA nanostructure, sticks to chemical patches. Scientists then dissolve the assembly, separating the DNA nanostructure into its component strands and leaving behind the DNA imprint on the gold nanoparticle. Credit: Thomas Edwardson
New technique could facilitate use of gold nanoparticles in electronic, medical applications. Gold nanoparticles have unusual optical, electronic and chemical properties, which scientists are seeking to put to use in a range of new technologies, from nanoelectronics to cancer treatments.
Some of the most interesting properties of nanoparticles emerge when they are brought close together – either in clusters of just a few particles or in crystals made up of millions of them. Yet particles that are just millionths of an inch in size are too small to be manipulated by conventional lab tools. One approach thas been to use tiny structures made from synthetic strands of DNA to help organize nanoparticles. Since DNA strands are programmed to pair with other strands in certain patterns, scientists have attached individual strands of DNA to gold particle surfaces to create a variety of assemblies. But these hybrid gold-DNA nanostructures are intricate and expensive to generate.
Enter the nanoparticle equivalent of the printing press. It’s efficient, re-usable and carries more information than previously possible. McGill’s Department of Chemistry outline a procedure for making a DNA structure with a specific pattern of strands coming out of it; at the end of each strand is a chemical “sticky patch.” When a gold nanoparticle is brought into contact to the DNA nanostructure, it sticks to the patches. They dissolve the assembly in distilled water, separating the DNA nanostructure into its component strands and leaving behind the DNA imprint on the gold nanoparticle. The DNA nanostructures, for their part, can be re-used, much like stamps in an old printing press.
The next step for the lab will be to investigate the properties of structures made from these new building blocks. Patterned DNA gold particles can connect to neighbouring particles to form well-defined nanoparticle assemblies.
APPS: optoelectronic nanodevices and biomedical sciences. The patterns of DNA strands could, for example, be engineered to target specific proteins on cancer cells, and thus serve to detect cancer or to selectively destroy cancer cells. http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/printing-press-nanoparticles-257609
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