International Research Fellowship Program: Electric Field Effects on the Self-Assembly and Hybridization of Functionalized Oligonucleotides

Eliza, Hutter, Potsdam NY

Investigators

Abstract

0206923 Hutter The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twenty-four month research fellowship by Dr. Eliza Hutter to work with Dr. Marie-Paule Pileni at the University P. et M. Curie in Paris, France. This project will be supported by the Math and Physical Sciences Directorate's Office of Multidisciplinary Activities. The self-assembly of functionalized oligonucleotide (single stranded short chain DNA) films and their hybridized counterparts (double stranded short chain DNA), with controlled density and order is the primary objective of this project. This will be accomplished by (1) selecting relatively simple two complimentary pairs of thiol functionalized oligonucleotides, O12-OC12, and O25-OC25, (containing 12, and 25 base units, respectively) for self-assembly onto gold substrates and onto gold nanoparticles, as well as for the in situ generation of gold nanochains on their backbones; (2) application of an electric field to align the functionalized DNA perpendicularly to the substrate; and (3) the in-depth characterizations of the single and double stranded functionalized DNA in solution (water and reversed micelles) and on gold substrates by combined electrochemical, optical, electrical, spectroscopic, microscopic, X-ray diffraction and NMR measurements. This research provides a fresh approach to the construction of DNA based biosensors and biochips. Dr. Pileni has pioneered the use of reversed micelles for controlling the sizes and shapes of nanoparticles. The work in her lab is directed to the synthesis and characterization of reverse micelles and for the in situ generation and incorporation of nanoparticles in reverse micelles.