Stabilization of DNA by sodium and magnesium ions during the synthesis of DNA-bridged gold nanoparticles.

Nanostructures synthesized using DNA-conjugated gold nanoparticles have a wide range of applications in the field of biosensorics. The stability of the DNA duplex plays a critical role as it determines the final geometry of these nanostructures. The main way to control DNA stability is to maintain a high ionic strength of the buffer solution; at the same time, high salt concentrations lead to an aggregation of nanoparticles. In this study, by means of the instrumentality of DNA-bridged seeds using tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane as a soft reducing agent the dumbbell-like gold nanoparticles up to 35 nm were synthesized with a high concentration of sodium ions of up to 100 mM and magnesium ions up to 1 mM. We also examined at the atomic level the details of the effect of the gold nanoparticle surface, as well as Na+ and Mg2+ ions, on the stability of nucleotide pairs located in close proximity to the grafting site.