Ethanol effect on gold nanoparticle aggregation state and its implication in the interaction mechanism with DNA

The equilibria and kinetics aspects of the binding of small gold nanoparticles, AuNPs, stabilized with tiopronin to DNA in B and C conformation (B-DNA and C-DNA), has been investigated in ethanol/water mixtures using different techniques. Two modes of binding are displayed: groove binding and partial intercalation, depending on the ethanol content, [EtOH], and the molar ratio, R = C_AuNPs/C_DNA. Two reaction mechanisms are proposed for AuNPs/DNA interaction in each polymer conformation, and the reaction parameters are evaluated. For lower ethanol levels, ([EtOH] up to 30%), when DNA is in the B form, the simplest mechanism according to the kinetic and thermodynamic results proved to be a three-step series mechanism reaction scheme which evolves in the formation of the groove complex. In this context, solvent hydration as well as the solvent effective viscosity are the main factors that influence kinetics. In contrast, for high ethanol levels, when DNA is in a C-like conformation, the mechanism is more complex involving three parallel reactions, in which AuNPs self-aggregation plays a key role in the switch from partial intercalation to groove binding. On the whole, it is evident that AuNPs aggregation and the DNA conformation are two key factors that must be taken into account in order to control the mechanism of AuNPs/DNA interaction.