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Updated: May 23, 2026

Gene-therapy Inspired Polycation Coating for Protection of DNA Origami Nanostructures
Published on: January 19, 2019
A zwitterion-DNA coating stabilizes nanoparticles against Mg2+ driven aggregation enabling attachment to DNA
Thilak Kumara Mudalige1, Oleg Gang, William B Sherman
1Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000, USA.
Abstract:
Plasmonics and photonics demand new methods for the controlled construction of nanoparticle (NP) arrays. Complex, low-symmetry configurations of DNA-functionalized NPs are obtained by connection to scaffolds of branched and folded DNA nanostructures. However, the stabilization of these branched structures by Mg(2+) counterions also drives the uncontrolled aggregation of NPs. We demonstrate, using a two-dimensional DNA scaffold, that derivatizing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with zwitterionic ligands overcomes this problem.

