Enzymatic Ligation Creates Discrete Multinanoparticle Building Blocks for Self-Assembly

• Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society Vol. 130; no. 29; pp. 9598 - 9605
• Main Authors: Claridge, Shelley A, Mastroianni, Alexander J, Au, Yeung B, Liang, Huiyang W, Micheel, Christine M, Fréchet, Jean M. J, Alivisatos, A. Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 23.07.2008
• Subjects: Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; Chromatography, Ion Exchange - methods; DNA Adducts - chemical synthesis; DNA Adducts - chemistry; DNA Ligases - chemistry; DNA, Single-Stranded; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Gold - chemistry; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Models, Molecular; Scattering, Small Angle; X-Ray Diffraction
• ISSN: 0002-7863; 1272-7863; 1520-5126
• DOI: 10.1021/ja8026746

Enzymatic ligation of discrete nanoparticle−DNA conjugates creates nanoparticle dimer and trimer structures in which the nanoparticles are linked by single-stranded DNA, rather than by double-stranded DNA as in previous experiments. Ligation was verified by agarose gel and small-angle X-ray scattering. This capability was utilized in two ways: first, to create a new class of multiparticle building blocks for nanoscale self-assembly and, second, to develop a system that can amplify a population of discrete nanoparticle assemblies.