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March 1, 2006
BOSTON
UNIVERSITY SCIENTISTS DEVELOP NEW APPLICATION TO CHARACTERIZE
STRUCTURE OF DNA MOLECULES
New
technique provides insight into how DNA conforms to microarray
surfaces
(Boston) — A team of
researchers from Boston University has developed a new
application to enable more precise measurement of the location of
a fluorescent label in a DNA layer. According to their study,
published in a recent issue of Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, the new technique provides insight into
the shape of DNA molecules attached to surfaces, such as
microarrays used in genomics research. Determining how DNA
molecules conform to microarry surfaces may significantly improve
the efficiency of DNA hybridization and microarray technology and
thus impact emerging clinical and biotechnological fields.
The
technique, called spectral self-interference fluorescence
microscopy (SSFM), maps the interference spectrum from a
fluorophore, or fluorescent molecule, located on a layered
reflecting surface into a position with sub-nanometer accuracy.
“Although a number of other methods have been used
to determine the structure of the DNA layer, they are not very
sensitive to variations in the shape of DNA molecules,”
said Bennett Goldberg, professor of physics and study co-author.
“Our group has developed SSFM to determine the precise
measurement of the location of a fluorescent label relative to
the microarray surface. This measurement provides us with
specific information about the conformation of DNA.”
Using SSFM, the team estimated the shape of coiled
single-stranded DNA, the average tilt of double-stranded DNA of
different lengths, and estimated the amount of hybridization. The
data provide important new proof points for the capabilities of
novel optical surface analysis methods of the behavior of DNA on
microarray surfaces.
“Determining DNA conformation
and hybridization behavior provide the information required to
move DNA interfacial applications forward,” said M. Selim
Unlu, electrical and computer engineering professor and study
co-author. “Our research shows that locating a fluorescent
label attached to a certain position within a DNA chain offers
highly accurate information about the shape of DNA molecules
bound to the surface of a microarray.”
Additional
study investigators include Dr. Lev Moiseev, electrical and
computer engineering research associate; Anna K. Swan, associate
professor of electrical and computer engineering; and Charles R.
Cantor, professor of biomedical engineering and co-director of
the Center for Advanced Biotechnology at BU.
Founded in
1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized
institution of higher education and research. With more than
30,000 students, it is the fourth largest independent university
in the United States. BU contains 17 colleges and schools along
with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes which
are central to the school’s research and teaching mission.
Source
/ Credit: Boston University
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