The sensitive determination of nucleic acids using resonance light scattering quenching method

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Spectroscopy

Background:

• Accurate quantification of nucleic acids is crucial in molecular biology and diagnostics.
• Existing methods for nucleic acid detection may lack sensitivity or require complex procedures.
• Resonance light scattering (RLS) offers a sensitive optical detection technique.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a highly sensitive method for nucleic acid determination.
• To investigate the quenching effect of nucleic acids on the Eu3+-TTA-Phen RLS system.
• To establish the quantitative relationship between RLS signal and nucleic acid concentration.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a hexamethylene tetramine (HMTA)-HCl buffer system at pH 7.00.
• Employed a europium (III) (Eu3+)-2-thenoyltrifluoroacetne (TTA)-1,10-phenanthroline (Phen) complex.
• Measured the resonance light scattering (RLS) intensity quenched by nucleic acids.

Main Results:

• Nucleic acids were found to effectively quench the RLS signal of the Eu3+-TTA-Phen system.
• The quenched RLS intensity showed a linear correlation with nucleic acid concentrations.
• Achieved highly sensitive detection limits for fish sperm DNA (fsDNA), yeast RNA (yRNA), and calf thymus DNA (ctDNA), down to 0.002 ng mL−1.

Conclusions:

• A novel and highly sensitive RLS-based method for nucleic acid quantification has been successfully developed.
• The method demonstrates superior sensitivity compared to existing RLS techniques for nucleic acid detection.
• The study provides insights into the interaction mechanism between nucleic acids and the Eu3+-TTA-Phen complex.