Influence of surface structures of immobilized DNA molecules on their interactions with DNA and proteins

COLL 486

Feimeng Zhou, Shubo Han, Alfred J. Baca, Jun Wang, and Zarui Chikneyan. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Los Angeles, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032
Quantification of a specific DNA/RNA sequence or identification of the function of a given protein are of great importance in the biomedical field. Results from such assays are useful for the diagnoses of infectious diseases and the drug research. A detailed understanding of the relationship between the surface structure (e.g., orientation and surface coverage) of the sensing molecules immobilized onto surfaces can help the development of sensitive and selective bioanalytical techniques. In this presentation, we will present our recent studies on the characterization and quantification of surface-confined oligonucleotides and the correlation of the findings to the performance of the DNA-modified surfaces for the analysis of DNA hybridization and DNA/protein interactions. We will demonstrate that the development of novel DNA immobilization and detection schemes, coupled with a fundamental study on the surface-confined sensing molecules, can afford performance for several analytical techniques that is superior to that of conventional molecular biology techniques.