Francesca Bomboi

Phase behavior and critical activated dynamics of limited-valence DNA nanostars

Significance At atomic and molecular levels, particles interact via the immutable laws of quantum mechanics, whereas at nanoscopic and microscopic levels, interactions between colloidal particles can be determined by human design. We exploit DNA self-assembly to produce nanoscopic particles with a controlled number of interacting terminations, providing the particles with valence. Experimental investigation of the collective behavior of such colloids shows that reducing the number of interacting sites results in a significant shrinkage of the gas–liquid coexistence region, with critical parameters decreasing as the valence is reduced. We also observe an unconventional dynamic behavior in the proximity of the critical point. Such findings are relevant to answer fundamental physics issues and potentially to determine the stability region of new DNA-based materials. Colloidal particles with directional interactions are key in the realization of new colloidal materials with possibly unconventional phase behaviors. Here we exploit DNA self-assembly to produce bulk quantities of “DNA stars” with three or four sticky terminals, mimicking molecules with controlled limited valence. Solutions of such molecules exhibit a consolution curve with an upper critical point, whose temperature and concentration decrease with the valence. Upon approaching the critical point from high temperature, the intensity of the scattered light diverges with a power law, whereas the intensity time autocorrelation functions show a surprising two-step relaxation, somehow reminiscent of glassy materials. The slow relaxation time exhibits an Arrhenius behavior with no signs of criticality, demonstrating a unique scenario where the critical slowing down of the concentration fluctuations is subordinate to the large lifetime of the DNA bonds, with relevant analogies to critical dynamics in polymer solutions. The combination of equilibrium and dynamic behavior of DNA nanostars demonstrates the potential of DNA molecules in diversifying the pathways toward collective properties and self-assembled materials, beyond the range of phenomena accessible with ordinary molecular fluids.

Interactions between single-walled carbon nanotubes and lysozyme.

Dispersions of single-walled and non-associated carbon nanotubes in aqueous lysozyme solution were investigated by analyzing the stabilizing effect of both protein concentration and pH. It was inferred that the medium pH, which significantly modifies the protein net charge and (presumably) conformation, modulates the mutual interactions with carbon nanotubes. At fixed pH, in addition, the formation of protein/nanotube complexes scales with increasing lysozyme concentration. Electrophoretic mobility, dielectric relaxation and circular dichroism were used to determine the above features. According to circular dichroism, lysozyme adsorbed onto nanotubes could essentially retain its native conformation, but the significant amount of free protein does not allow drawing definitive conclusions on this regard. The state of charge and charge distribution around nanotubes was inferred by combining electrophoretic mobility and dielectric relaxation methods. The former gives information on changes in the surface charge density of the complexes, the latter on modifications in the electrical double layer thickness around them. Such results are complementary each other and univocally indicate that some LYS molecules take part to binding. Above a critical protein/nanotube mass ratio, depletion phenomena were observed. They counteract the stabilization mechanism, with subsequent nanotube/nanotube aggregation and phase separation. Protein-based depletion phenomena are similar to formerly reported effects, observed in aqueous surfactant systems containing carbon nanotubes.

Accurate phase diagram of tetravalent DNA nanostars

We evaluate, by means of molecular dynamics simulations employing a realistic DNA coarse-grained model, the phase behaviour and the structural and dynamic properties of tetravalent DNA nanostars, i.e., nanoconstructs completely made of DNA. We find that, as the system is cooled down, tetramers undergo a gas–liquid phase separation in a region of concentrations which, if the difference in salt concentration is taken into account, is comparable with the recently measured experimental phase diagram [S. Biffi, R. Cerbino, F. Bomboi, E. M. Paraboschi, R. Asselta, F. Sciortino, and T. Bellini, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110, 15633 (2013)]. We also present a mean-field free energy for modelling the phase diagram based on the bonding contribution derived by Wertheim in his studies of associating liquids. Combined with mass-action law expressions appropriate for DNA binding and a numerically evaluated reference free energy, the resulting free energy qualitatively reproduces the numerical data. Finally, we repor...

Re-entrant DNA gels

DNA is acquiring a primary role in material development, self-assembling by design into complex supramolecular aggregates, the building block of a new-materials world. Using DNA nanoconstructs to translate sophisticated theoretical intuitions into experimental realizations by closely matching idealized models of colloidal particles is a much less explored avenue. Here we experimentally show that an appropriate selection of competing interactions enciphered in multiple DNA sequences results into the successful design of a one-pot DNA hydrogel that melts both on heating and on cooling. The relaxation time, measured by light scattering, slows down dramatically in a limited window of temperatures. The phase diagram displays a peculiar re-entrant shape, the hallmark of the competition between different bonding patterns. Our study shows that it is possible to rationally design biocompatible bulk materials with unconventional phase diagrams and tuneable properties by encoding into DNA sequences both the particle shape and the physics of the collective response.

Lysozyme binds onto functionalized carbon nanotubes

Single walled carbon nanotubes have singular physicochemical properties making them attractive in a wide range of applications. Studies on carbon nanotubes and biological macromolecules exist in literature. However, ad hoc investigations are helpful to better understand the interaction mechanisms. We report on a system consisting of single walled carbon nanotubes and lysozyme. The phenomenology of nanotube-protein interactions and its effects on protein conformation were determined. We investigated the formation of oxidized nanotube-lysozyme conjugates, by studying the effect of both protein concentration and pH. Electrophoretic mobility, dielectric spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering were used to determine the interaction pathways, monitoring the surface charge density and the size of the complexes. The results allowed identifying the conditions of surface saturation at different pH values. The secondary structure of nanotube-adsorbed protein was controlled by circular dichroism; it was observed that it substantially retains its native conformation. Interestingly, we found that the interactions among oxidized nanotubes and lysozyme molecules are mainly of electrostatic nature and easily tunable by varying the pH of the solutions.

Equilibrium gels of trivalent DNA-nanostars: Effect of the ionic strength on the dynamics

Self-assembling DNA-nanostars are ideal candidates to explore equilibrium gelation in systems composed of limited-valence particles. We present here a light scattering study of the dynamics in a trivalent DNA-nanostars equilibrium gel and of its dependence on ionic strength and concentration. Reversible bonds between different nanostars, whose formation is sensitively dependent on temperature, concentration and ionic strength, are provided by complementary DNA sticky ends. We find that the decay of the density correlations is described by a two-step relaxation process characterised by: i) a slow time scale that varies over nearly four orders of magnitude in a temperature window of less than 30 degrees; ii) an increase of the amplitude (the so-called non-ergodicity factor) of the slow relaxation. The slow process follows an Arrhenius law with temperature. We observe that the activation enthalpy does not depend on the ionic strength and that the dependence of the relaxation time on the ionic strength can be rationalized in terms of the free-energy cost of forming a sticky-end duplex. Finally, we observe that dynamics is insensitive to nanostar concentration, in full agreement with the predicted behaviour in equilibrium gels.Graphical abstract

Small-angle neutron scattering and Molecular Dynamics structural study of gelling DNA nanostars

DNA oligomers with properly designed sequences self-assemble into well defined constructs. Here, we exploit this methodology to produce bulk quantities of tetravalent DNA nanostars (each one composed of 196 nucleotides) and to explore the structural signatures of their aggregation process. We report small-angle neutron scattering experiments focused on the evaluation of both the form factor and the temperature evolution of the scattered intensity at a nanostar concentration where the system forms a tetravalent equilibrium gel. We also perform molecular dynamics simulations of one isolated tetramer to evaluate the form factor numerically, without resorting to any approximate shape. The numerical form factor is found to be in very good agreement with the experimental one. Simulations predict an essentially temperature-independent form factor, offering the possibility to extract the effective structure factor and its evolution during the equilibrium gelation.

Binding branched and linear DNA structures: From isolated clusters to fully bonded gels

The proper design of DNA sequences allows for the formation of well-defined supramolecular units with controlled interactions via a consecution of self-assembling processes. Here, we benefit from the controlled DNA self-assembly to experimentally realize particles with well-defined valence, namely, tetravalent nanostars (A) and bivalent chains (B). We specifically focus on the case in which A particles can only bind to B particles, via appropriately designed sticky-end sequences. Hence AA and BB bonds are not allowed. Such a binary mixture system reproduces with DNA-based particles the physics of poly-functional condensation, with an exquisite control over the bonding process, tuned by the ratio, r, between B and A units and by the temperature, T. We report dynamic light scattering experiments in a window of Ts ranging from 10 °C to 55 °C and an interval of r around the percolation transition to quantify the decay of the density correlation for the different cases. At low T, when all possible bonds are formed, the system behaves as a fully bonded network, as a percolating gel, and as a cluster fluid depending on the selected r.

Erratum: Equilibrium gels of low-valence DNA nanostars: A colloidal model for strong glass formers (Soft Matter (2015) 11 (3132-3138))

Correction for ‘Equilibrium gels of low-valence DNA nanostars: a colloidal model for strong glass formers’ by Silvia Biffi et al., Soft Matter, 2015, 11, 3132–3138.