A novel label-free colorimetric assay for DNA concentration in solution

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Islam, Molla R.
  • Serpe, Michael J.

• Optical devices were fabricated by sandwiching a “monolithic” poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-N-(3-aminopropyl) methacrylamide hydrochloride) (pNIPAm-co-APMAH) microgel layer between two semitransparent Au layers. These devices, referred to as etalons, exhibit characteristic multipeak reflectance spectra, and the position of the peaks in the spectra primarily depends on the distance between the Au surfaces mediated by the microgel layer thickness. Here, we show that the positively charged microgel layer can collapse in the presence of negatively charged single stranded DNA (ssDNA) due to ssDNA induced microgel crosslinking. The collapse results in a change in the etalon's optical properties, which can be used to detect target DNA in a complex mixture.

• Date created

  2014-01-01

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Photonic Materials
  • Dna Detection
  • Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide) Based Microgel
  • Responsive Polymers

• Type of Item

  Article (Draft / Submitted)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-ce93-7x32

• License

  © 2014. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. This is an open access article which is free to download and share.