(253c) Surfaces: Co-Localization Of Oligonucleotides And Gold Nanoparticles, A Novel Approach Enabling Pcr

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have unique optical and energetic properties enabling their use in analytic and biosensing applications through Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and Polaritons. Oligonucleotides are functionalized on the 5' and 3' end with alkylthiol or any thiol activated compounds for their high affinity towards AuNPs. The oligos are used in conjugation with stabilized AuNPs as a mode to detect their derivitization on mercaptosilanized quartz surfaces, which as far has been the most effective and active surface. The other method to derivitize oligos is modifying them to directly couple with active gold surfaces without any aid of substrate or functionality. The objective of the study is to apply the above methods for their successful imitation to optical fibers, which under the controlled conditions of a PCR and the thermal excitation of AuNPs for the essential stable polymerization of oligonucleotides without denaturing them. The work on the immobilization of oligonucleotides on plain/gold activated surfaces, and their detection by the aid of AuNPs, is under investigation and refinement for application to optical fibers.