Dynamic light scattering on bioconjugated laser generated gold nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) conjugated to DNA are widely used for biomedical targeting and sensing applications. DNA functionalization is easily reached on laser generated gold nanoparticles because of their unique surface chemistry, not reproducible by other methods. In this context, we present an extensive investigation concerning the attachment of DNA to the surface of laser generated nanoparticles using Dynamic Light Scattering and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The DNA conjugation is highlighted by the increase of the hydrodynamic radius and by the UV-Vis spectra behavior. Our investigation indicates that Dynamic Light Scattering is a suitable analytical tool to evidence, directly and qualitatively, the binding between a DNA molecule and a gold nanoparticle, therefore it is ideal to monitor changes in the conjugation process when experimental conditions are varied.