Hybridization efficiency of molecular beacons bound to gold nanowires: effect of surface coverage and target length.

ABSTRACT: Surface-bound nucleic acid probes designed to adopt specific secondary structures are becoming increasingly important in a range of biosensing applications but remain less well characterized than traditional single-stranded probes, which are typically designed to avoid secondary structure. We report the hybridization efficiency for surface-immobilized hairpin DNA probes. Our probes are molecular beacons, carrying a 3' dye moiety and a 5' thiol for attachment to gold nanowires, which serve as both scaffolds for probe attachment and quenchers. Hybridization efficiency was dependent on probe surface coverage, reaching a maximum of ∼90% at intermediate coverages of (1-2) × 10(12) probes/cm(2) and dropping to ≤20% at higher or lower coverages. Fluorescence intensity did not track with the numbe

SUBMITTER: Cederquist KB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2994276 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature