title: Enhancing the specificity of polymerase chain reaction by graphene oxide through surface modification: zwitterionic polymer is superior to other polymers with different charges.
abstract: Graphene oxides (GOs) with different surface characteristics, such as size, reduction degree and charge, are prepared, and their effects on the specificity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are investigated. In this study, we demonstrate that GO with a large size and high reduction degree is superior to small and nonreduced GO in enhancing the specificity of PCR. Negatively charged polyacrylic acid (PAA), positively charged polyacrylamide (PAM), neutral polyethylene glycol (PEG) and zwitterionic polymer poly(sulfobetaine) (pSB) are used to modify GO. The PCR specificity-enhancing ability increases in the following order: GO-PAA < GO-PAM < GO-PEG < GO-pSB. Thus, zwitterionic polymer-modified GO is superior to other GO derivatives with different charges in enhancing the specificity of PCR. GO derivatives are also successfully used to enhance the specificity of PCR for the amplification of human mitochondrial DNA using blood genomic DNA as template. Molecular dynamics simulations and molecular docking are performed to elucidate the interaction between the polymers andPfuDNA polymerase. Our data demonstrate that the size, reduction degree and surface charge of GO affect the specificity of PCR. Based on our results, zwitterionic polymer-modified GO may be used as an efficient additive for enhancing the specificity of PCR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, College of Materials.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences.
authors.forename: Lihong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Xiamen University, Xiamen, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhisen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, College of Materials.
authors.forename: Yunjing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, College of Materials.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, College of Materials.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weng
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry; D001622:Betaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D062105:Molecular Docking Simulation; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012997:Solvents; D013499:Surface Properties; D000099166:Polyacrylamides
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D001622:Betaine; D004247:DNA; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D006108:Graphite; D010087:Oxides; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D011108:Polymers; D012997:Solvents; D000099166:Polyacrylamides; C006903:carbopol 940; C483727:sulfobetaine
keywords: PCR additive; Pfu DNA polymerase; charge; pSB