Adsorption of double-stranded DNA to graphene oxide preventing enzymatic digestion

Investigation into the interactions between graphene oxide (GO) and biomolecules is very important for broad applications of GO in bioassay and bioanalysis. In this work, we describe the interactions between double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and GO. We demonstrated that dsDNA can bind to GO forming complexes (dsDNA/GO) in the presence of certain salts, which protects dsDNA from being enzymatically digested. On the other hand, we found that a nonionic surfactant, such as triton X-100, can block the formation of dsDNA/GO complexes, so that the enzymatic digestion of dsDNA is restored. These results lead us to believe that the reason for GO protecting dsDNA from enzymatic digestion is the formation of dsDNA/GO complexes hindering the access of DNA enzymes to dsDNA, rather than direct inactivation of the DNA enzymes.