title: Designing new strategy for controlling DNA orientation in biosensors.
abstract: Orientation controllable DNA biosensors hold great application potentials in recognizing small molecules and detecting DNA hybridization. Though electric field is usually used to control the orientation of DNA molecules, it is also of great importance and significance to seek for other triggered methods to control the DNA orientation. Here, we design a new strategy for controlling DNA orientation in biosensors. The main idea is to copolymerize DNA molecules with responsive polymers that can show swelling/deswelling transitions due to the change of external stimuli, and then graft the copolymers onto an uncharged substrate. In order to highlight the responsive characteristic, we take thermo-responsive polymers as an example, and reveal multi-responsive behavior and the underlying molecular mechanism of the DNA orientation by combining dissipative particle dynamics simulation and molecular theory. Since swelling/deswelling transitions can be also realized by using other stimuli-responsive (like pH and light) polymers, the present strategy is universal, which can enrich the methods of controlling DNA orientation and may assist with the design of the next generation of biosensors.
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.|Center for Soft Condensed Matter Physics and Interdisciplinary Research, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: Hong-ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
authors.forename: Chun-lai
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.|Center for Soft Condensed Matter Physics and Interdisciplinary Research, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: Yu-qiang
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D004247:DNA