Unveiling Stability Criteria of DNA-Carbon Nanotubes Constructs by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Computational Modeling
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108-6050, USA
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
- NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Energy Research Group, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Theoretical Division, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
We present a combined approach that relies on computational simulations and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements to reveal morphological properties and stability criteria of carbon nanotube-DNA (CNT-DNA) constructs. Application of STM allows direct observation of very stable CNT-DNA hybrid structures with the well-defined DNA wrapping angle of 63.4 ° and a coiling period of 3.3 nm. Using force field simulations, we determine how the DNA-CNT binding energy depends on the sequence and binding geometry of a single strand DNA. This dependence allows us to quantitatively characterize the stability of a hybrid structure with an optimal π-stacking between DNA nucleotides and the tube surface and better interpret STM data. Our simulations clearly demonstrate the existence of a very stable DNA binding geometry for (6,5) CNT as evidenced by the presence of a well-defined minimum in the binding energy as a function of an angle between DNA strand and the nanotube chiral vector. This novel approach demonstrates the feasibility of CNT-DNA geometry studies with subnanometer resolution and paves the way towards complete characterization of the structural and electronic properties of drug-delivering systems based on DNA-CNT hybrids as a function of DNA sequence and a nanotube chirality.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1197871
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1629081
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Drug Delivery, Journal Name: Journal of Drug Delivery Vol. 2011; ISSN 2090-3014
- Publisher:
- Hindawi Publishing CorporationCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
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