Mobile Linkers on DNA-Coated Colloids: Valency without Patches
Mobile Linkers on DNA-Coated Colloids: Valency without Patches
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DOI：
10.1103/physrevlett.113.128303
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发表时间：
2014-09-17
影响因子：
8.6
通讯作者：
Frenkel, Daan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Angioletti-Uberti, Stefano;Varilly, Patrick;Frenkel, Daan
用单链DNA（ssDNA）包被的胶体可以选择性地结合到用互补ssDNA包被的其他胶体。DNA包裹的胶体（DNAACC）可以与特定的配偶体结合，这一事实为制造胶体“分子”开辟了前景。“然而，为了设计基于DNACC的分子，我们必须能够控制胶体的价态，即，给定DNACC可以绑定的伴侣数量。一个明显但不太简单的方法是用单链DNA的补丁装饰胶体表面，选择性地结合其他胶体上的单链DNA。在这里，我们提出了一个设计原则，利用多体效应来控制否则各向同性胶体的化合价。使用理论和模拟相结合，我们表明，我们可以调整与移动的ssDNA涂覆的胶体的化合价，简单地通过调整粒子之间的非特异性排斥。我们的模拟结果表明，由此产生的有效的相互作用导致低价胶体自组装在特殊的开放结构，非常不同于那些观察到的DNACCs与固定的DNA接头。
Colloids coated with single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) can bind selectively to other colloids coated with complementary ssDNA. The fact that DNA-coated colloids (DNACCs) can bind to specific partners opens the prospect of making colloidal "molecules." However, in order to design DNACC-based molecules, we must be able to control the valency of the colloids, i.e., the number of partners to which a given DNACC can bind. One obvious, but not very simple approach is to decorate the colloidal surface with patches of single-stranded DNA that selectively bind those on other colloids. Here we propose a design principle that exploits many-body effects to control the valency of otherwise isotropic colloids. Using a combination of theory and simulation, we show that we can tune the valency of colloids coated with mobile ssDNA, simply by tuning the nonspecific repulsion between the particles. Our simulations show that the resulting effective interactions lead to low-valency colloids self-assembling in peculiar open structures, very different from those observed in DNACCs with immobile DNA linkers.