title: Detection of G-Quadruplex Formation via Light Scattering of Defined Gold Nanoassemblies Modulated by Molecular Hairpins.
abstract: G-quadruplexes are of great scientific interest, as these unique DNA structures play key regulatory roles in cell replication, such as safeguarding against uncontrolled cellular divisions. The quadruplexes have also been applied for detecting DNA and protein biomarkers via methods like fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and gold nanoparticle (AuNP) aggregation. As an alternative and complementary platform to the established molecular techniques for the study of quadruplexes, we have developed a strategy coupling poly-G (PG)-mediated quadruplex formation with AuNP assembly detectable via dynamic light scattering (DLS). The presence of quadruplex-forming sequences also uniquely modifies the AuNP nanoassembly readout on DLS. In addition, molecular hairpins co-attached onto the AuNP together with PG successfully modulated the quadruplex-induced nanoassembly. Through molecular beacon-based fluorescence restoration and light scattering signal changes, the open/closed conformations of the hairpins are leveraged to tune the size of the quadruplex-mediated nanoassembly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore , Singapore 119260, Singapore.
authors.forename: Nianjia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Seow
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore , Singapore 119260, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yingjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore , Singapore 119260, Singapore.
authors.forename: Lin-Yue Lanry
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Yung
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D000067493:Dynamic Light Scattering; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D054856:G-Quadruplexes; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D055029:Inverted Repeat Sequences; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes / Q000737:chemistry; D010316:Particle Size; D011068:Poly G / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D011068:Poly G; D006046:Gold; D004247:DNA