DNA Cleavage System of Nanosized Graphene Oxide Sheets and Copper Ions

Abstract

The exploration of efficient DNA intercalative agents (intercalators) is essential for understanding DNA scission, repair, and signal transduction. In this work, we explored systematically the graphene oxide (GO) interaction with DNA molecules using fluorescence spectroscopic (FL) and circular dichroism (CD) studies, gel electrophoresis, and DNA thermal denaturation. We demonstrated that the GO nanosheets could intercalate efficiently into DNA molecules. Significantly, we illustrated that the scission of DNA by GO sheets combining with copper ions could take place pronouncedly. The scission of DNA by the GO/Cu(2+) system is critically dependent on the concentrations of GO and Cu(2+) and their ratio. DNA cleavage ability exhibited by the GO with several other metal ions and the fact that GO/Cu(2+)-cleaved DNA fragments can be partially relegated suggest that the mechanism of DNA cleavage by the GO/metal ion system is oxidative and hydrolytic. The result reveals that the GO/Cu(2+) could be used as a DNA cleaving system that should find many practical applications in biotechnology and as therapeutic agents.

Intercalation and coordination of copper(II)–2,2′-bipyridine complexes into graphite oxide

“…In line with other reports [1,4,5], this strongly suggested for the coordination of GO's oxygen functionalities to the cupric ions, although ion exchange could not be ruled out [6]. In order to obtain direct molecular-level information on the binding mode of copper, we studied the adsorption of Cu(II) 2,2'-bipyridyl complexes of different compositions on GO by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, supplementing the adsorption and X-ray diffraction (XRD) data.…”

Graphene for DNA Biosensing

“…The specific interaction mechanism could be found in Ref. [100]. As it is illustrated, the cleavage efficiency was still low and the concentration of Cu 2+ was high because the size of GO sheets was not well tailored.…”

Graphene-Based Polymer Nanocomposites: Chemistry and Applications

“…They found that graphene oxide at a concentration of 85 μg mL −1 significantly suppresses the growth of E. coli after 2 h incubation at 37°C, with an inhibition rate of over 90 %. In addition, graphene oxide may adsorb metal ions such as Mn +2 and Cu +2 via complexation or chelation on oxygen functional groups [106,152].…”