1 research outputs found
Precisely Controlled Smart Polymer Scaffold for Nanoscale Manipulation of Biomolecules
We demonstrate the application of a novel smart surface
to modulate the orientation of immobilized double stranded DNA (dsDNA)
and the conformation of a polymer scaffold through variation in buffer
pH and ionic strength. An amphoteric polyÂ(dimethylacrylamide) based
coating containing weak acrylamido acids and bases, which are copolymerized
together with the neutral monomer, is covalently bound to the surface.
The coating can be made to contain any desired amount of buffering
and titrant ionogenic monomers, allowing control of the surface charge
when the surface is bathed in a given buffer pH. Spectral self-interference
fluorescence microscopy (SSFM) is utilized to precisely quantify both
the DNA orientation and the polymer conformation with subnanometer
resolution. It is possible to utilize the polymer scaffold to functionalize
a variety of common materials used in microfabrication, making it
a general purpose building block for the next generation of nanomachines
and biosensors