Analytical Sciences

Response of HPRT Gene Fragment Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles to Gamma Ray Irradiation

Yu CHEN,* Kaikai WANG,* Feng CHEN,** Shuquan CHANG,* and Haiqian ZHANG*,***

*Department of Nuclear Science and Technology, College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
**School of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China
***Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, Nanjing 210096, China

Radiation-sensitive biomolecules are highly significant for studying biological effects of radiation and developing ionizing radiation detectors based on biomolecules. In this work, we selected hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase gene fragments sensitive to gamma-ray irradiation as a sensing element for radiation detection. The end was modified with thiol groups. The thiol-modified oligonucleotide sequences were coupled to the surface of gold nanoparticles by Au–S covalent bonds. The DNA attached to the surface of gold nanoparticles forms a DNA-AuNPs assembly through base pairing. The assembly was irradiated by gamma rays. And its response to radiation was studied with ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy techniques. SERS spectroscopy and ultraviolet spectroscopy can detect the response of the DNA-AuNPs assembly to gamma-ray irradiation below 100 and 100 – 250 Gy, respectively. The results indicated that it was feasible to develop a new approach of gamma-ray detectors using biomolecular assemblies of gold nanoparticles.

J-STAGE: View this article in J-STAGE