Effect of oligonucleotide conformation on its facilitation efficiency on negatively charged micelle-to-vesicle transition

Abstract

In our previous article, we reported for the first time that the oligonucleotides composed of one nucleotide species, for example, oligo d(A)n, oligo d(C)n, and oligo d(T)n, could facilitate negatively charged sodium dodecyl sulfate/dodecyl triethyl ammonium bromide mixed micelles to transform to vesicles. In this study, we will report the facilitation ability of self-complementary hairpin-structured oligonucleotides, oligo d(AnCTn) and oligo d(AT)nACT(AT)n (or oligo d(AT)nC(AT)n), on micelle-to-vesicle transition. It is found that the facilitation behavior of hairpin-structured oligonucleotide is different from that of the oligonucleotide comprising one base species, and the facilitation efficiency of hairpin-structured oligonucleotide is closely dependent on the sequence of bases A and T; oligo d(AnCTn) is more efficient than oligo d(AT)nACT(AT)n (or oligo d(AT)nC(AT)n). Moreover, oligo d(AnCTn) is more efficient than oligo d(A)n, oligo d(C)n, and oligo d(T)n. Since so far, there is very limited report about the facilitation effect of oligonucleotide and DNA on vesicle formation as well as the role of their conformation in their interaction with surfactant, this study should be expected to provide some helpful information for the application of DNA/amphiphile system. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 852–860, 2010