THz characterization of DNA four-way junction and its components

Maryna I. Slvovska, Nadrian C. Seeman, Ruojie Sha, Tatiana R. Globus, Tatyana B. Khromova, Tatiana S. Dorofeeva

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The four-way DNA junction that is a structural building block for DNA self-assemblies has been widely studied by diffraction methods and other physical techniques. However, terahertz (THz) spectroscopic characterization, which can reveal specific absorption fingerprints from different DNA structures and sequences, has not been reported yet. In this study, we present the spectral features of the four-way nucleic acid junction, its single- and double-stranded components, and their stoichiometric mixtures in the 10-25 cm-1 frequency range. We demonstrated that sub-THz vibrational spectroscopy can be used for sensing and characterizing the nanosize biomolecular architectures with welldefined composition and sequence. The results show that we can distinguish between the spectral features for all materials examined. Samples with amounts of material as low as 400 ng can be characterized. Thus, the resolved vibrational spectroscopy in the low-THz range can be used as a powerful tool to characterize the DNA junction structures and its components, as well as to monitor the J1 junction formation process.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)610-617
Number of pages8
JournalIEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology
Volume9
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2010

Keywords

  • DNA self-assembly
  • Four-way junction
  • Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Science Applications
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'THz characterization of DNA four-way junction and its components'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this