title: Nanogold-assisted multi-round polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
abstract: We have previously demonstrated that nanogold effectively enhances the specificity and yield of error-prone two-round polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Here we reported that, with the assistance of nanogold, we could perform multi-round PCR. In the presence of appropriate amount of 10 nm nanogold, we could obtain the target product even after six rounds of PCR, as manifested by a single bright band in gel electrophoresis (1% agarose). In fact, we could still observe the target band even at the 7th round of PCR, which nevertheless was accompanied by smearing bands (non-specific amplification). In contrast, in the absence of nanogold, the target band was completely lost only after four rounds of amplification. This marked difference in the performance of multi-round PCR clearly showed that nanogold was a powerful enhancer for PCR. More importantly, with this nanogold-assisted multi-round PCR, it might be possible to produce a large amount of target DNA, or to amply very low copies of genomic DNA from rare sources.
authors.affiliation: Nanobiology Laboratory, Bio-X Life Science Research Center, College of Life Science and Biotechnology, Shanghai JiaoTong University, Shanghai 200240, PR China.
authors.forename: Jiakui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Haikuo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xueyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Jiehuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chunhai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D006046:Gold