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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Nucleoside Triphosphates - From Synthesis to Biochemical Characterization
Published on: April 3, 2014
Surface-initiated growth of poly d(A-T) by Taq DNA polymerase
Young Shik Chi1, Young Hwan Jung, Insung S Choi
1Department of Chemistry and School of Molecular Science (BK21), Center for Molecular Design and Synthesis, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701 Korea.
Abstract:
In this paper, we report surface-initiated d(A-T) polymerization by Taq DNA polymerase as a method for constructing DNA-tethered surfaces using an enzyme. The enzymatic polymerization was conducted successfully via two steps: tethering of oligo d(A-T)s onto the surface presenting carboxylic acids by amide coupling and surface-initiated polymerization using Taq DNA polymerase. In this enzymatic polymerization process, the design and construction of carboxylic acid-presenting surfaces were found to be an important factor: DNA growth did not occur on the gold surface coated only with the self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHDA), but effectively proceeded on the surfaces presenting mixed SAMs of MHDA and 1-pentadecanethiol. The coupling of oligo d(A-T)s and the subsequent DNA polymerization reaction were characterized by polarized infrared external reflectance spectroscopy, ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy.
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