Nanomechanical properties of protein-DNA layers with different oligonucleotide tethers

The multi-ligand binding flavoprotein dodecin is reconstituted on top of flavin-terminated oligonucleotide monolayers. A detailed quartz crystal microbalance with a dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) study showing how the length and flexibility of the oligonucleotide tethers influence the stability and the viscoelastic properties of the resulting DNA-protein layers is presented. Relatively dense protein layers can be obtained, if the length of the tethers is in the same range as the diameter of dodecin. When significantly longer tethers are used, less dense layers are formed. When rather short tethers are used, the reaching area of individual tethers is too low to capture single apododecin molecules cooperatively, and the formation of stable and dense protein layers is not possible. On top of the DNA-dodecin layers additional flavin-DNA ligands may be captured to form sandwich-type DNA-protein-DNA layers. Differences in the binding and unbinding behavior of flavin-dsDNA and flavin-ssDNA ligands are measured by QCM-D and surface plasmon fluorescence spectroscopy (SPFS). Both type of ligands show relatively low k_on values, which might be explained by the structural rigidity of the binding pockets allowing a ligand to enter only when it approaches precisely in the right orientation. Apparently apododecin-flavin binding follows Fischer's classic lock-and-key binding model.