title: Enhanced PCR amplification of GC-rich DNA templates by gold nanoparticles.
abstract: Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been reported to facilitate double-stranded DNA dissociation and improve performance of several PCR systems. Here we investigated AuNPs' effect on GC-rich DNA amplification. We found that AuNPs could enhance PCR amplification of the GNAS1 promoter region (∼84% GC) mediated by Pfu or Taq DNA polymerase. However, under optimal concentrations of AuNPs, higher amounts of Taq were required. Furthermore, the GC-rich FMR1 (80.4% GC) gene of Homo sapiens as well as exoT (67.3% GC), exsE (71% GC) and pqqF genes (74% GC) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were also efficiently amplified. AuNPs can become an effective additive in GC-rich PCR and facilitate analysis of challenging genomic sequence in basic and clinical research.
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Engineering and ‡Key Laboratory of Systems Biomedicine (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Jiao Tong University , Shanghai 200240, China.
authors.forename: Wenchao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xinhui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jielin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Zhifeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shao
mesh_terms: D002864:Chromogranins; D018899:CpG Islands; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D019205:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gs / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D002864:Chromogranins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D006046:Gold; C406732:GNAS protein, human; D019205:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gs