title: Bio-recognitive photonics of a DNA-guided organic semiconductor.
abstract: Incorporation of duplex DNA with higher molecular weights has attracted attention for a new opportunity towards a better organic light-emitting diode (OLED) capability. However, biological recognition by OLED materials is yet to be addressed. In this study, specific oligomeric DNA-DNA recognition is successfully achieved by tri (8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminium (Alq3), an organic semiconductor. Alq3 rods crystallized with guidance from single-strand DNA molecules show, strikingly, a unique distribution of the DNA molecules with a shape of an 'inverted' hourglass. The crystal's luminescent intensity is enhanced by 1.6-fold upon recognition of the perfect-matched target DNA sequence, but not in the case of a single-base mismatched one. The DNA-DNA recognition forming double-helix structure is identified to occur only in the rod's outer periphery. This study opens up new opportunities of Alq3, one of the most widely used OLED materials, enabling biological recognition.
authors.affiliation: KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Hyuk
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Back
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Hyuk
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.
authors.forename: Chunzhi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.|Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.|Center for Theragnosis, Biomedical Research Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 02792, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong June
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
mesh_terms: D017607:Aluminum Compounds; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004579:Electron Transport; D004867:Equipment Design; D008029:Lighting; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry; D012666:Semiconductors
chemical_list: D017607:Aluminum Compounds; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D004247:DNA