The role of alkanethiol spacers in a metal surface-based label-free DNA detection system

摘要

We have been developing an array-based DNA biosensor, in which DNA oligonucleotides are readily immobilized onto Au surfaces via terminal thiol groups to serve as probes for the detection of oligonucleotides in solution. One common strategy to minimize steric effects and non-specific oligonucleotide-surface interactions derived from a high surface probe density employs thiol molecules as spacers. In this study, we tested nine different alkanethiol molecules with the goal of identifying a relationship between the chemical structure of each molecule and its performance as a spacer molecule. Among the nine different spacers, 4-mercapto- 1-butanol and 1-decanethiol were found to yield the optimalperformance as spacers, while spacers with a bulky tert-butyl group or a ring structure (2-methyl-2-propanethiol, cyclohexyl mercaptan and thiophenol) yielded poorer performance. Spacers with a short, branched carbon chain (1- mercapto-2-propanol and 3-mercapto-1,2-propanediol) provided an intermediate performance. These results suggest that DNA sensor response is highly sensitive to the chemical structure of the alkanethiol molecules that are employed as spacer molecules.