Properties and Applications of Novel DNA-Based Surfactants

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe have designed a novel class of functional surfactants based on DNA and have explored their properties in relation to several possible applications. The DNA-surfactants consist of short chain DNA oligonucleotides covalently bound to a large hydrophobic group, which makes the DNA molecules amphiphilic. We demonstrate that these materials behave like common detergents and are surface-active at various fluid surfaces, e.g. air-water, oil-water interfaces, and lipid bilayers. We also show that once adsorbed the DNA-surfactants remain on the liquid surface upon hybridisation with a complementary DNA chain. We use complementary DNA-surfactants to functionalise fluid surfaces and to program the interactions between them based on Watson-Crick pairing. By selecting the appropriate DNA base sequences, the interaction between the fluid surfaces functionalised with DNA-surfactants can be programmed with a very high specificity. We have also developed a novel procedure for micro-patterning of solid surfaces with DNA by a microcontact printing with aqueous inks of DNA-surfactants which can be utilised for rapid fabrication of DNA assays and genetic biochips.