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Influence of Tunable External Stimuli on the Self-Assembly of Guanosine Supramolecular Nanostructures Studied By Atomic Force Microscope

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Yinli Li†, Mingdong Dong‡, Daniel EOtzen§, Yuheng Yao†, Bo Liu*†, Flemming Besenbacher*‡ and Wael Mamdouh*‡

^† Institute of Photo-Biophysics, Physics and Electronics Department, Henan University, 475004, Kaifeng, China

^‡ Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Centre for DNA Nanotechnology (CDNA), and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

^§ Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Center for Insoluble Protein Structures (inSPIN), University of Aarhus, DK 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

Langmuir, 2009, 25 (23), pp 13432–13437

DOI: 10.1021/la900640f

Publication Date (Web): June 5, 2009

*Corresponding author. E-mail: boliu@henu.edu.cn (B.L.); wael@inano.dk (W.M.); fbe@inano.dk (F.B.).

Section:

Biochemical Methods

Abstract

The self-assembly of guanosine (G) molecules on solid surfaces is investigated by tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) upon controlling and introducing external factors (stimuli) to the G stock solution such as incubation time, presence/absence of metal cations, and mechanical shaking. Surprisingly, at different stages of incubation time at room temperature and in the absence of any metal cations in the G stock solution, which are known to be one of the governing factors in forming G-nanostructures, two assembly pathways resulting into two distinct supramolecular nanostructures were revealed. Astonishingly, by introducing a mechanical shaking of the tube containing the G stock solution, one-dimensional (1D) wires of G molecules are observed by AFM, and very interestingly, novel “branched” supramolecular nanostructures are formed. We have also observed that the later branched G nanostructures can grow further into a two-dimensional (2D) thin film by increasing the incubation time of the G stock solution at room temperature after it is exposed to the external mechanical stimuli. The self-assembled nanostructures of G molecules are changed significantly by tuning the assembly conditions, which show that it is indeed possible to grow complex 2D nanostructures from simple nucleoside molecules.

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