Systematic investigation demonstrates how chain length and salt impact polymer-nucleic acid interactions, indicating design principles for biomaterials.
Key Points
This research aims to explore how polylysine chain length and NaCl concentration affect the phase behavior and morphology of complexes with nucleic acids.
Investigated complexes of poly-l-lysine (30–800 residues) with tRNA and dsDNA using turbidity assays and optical microscopy.
Examined phase separation and transitions across NaCl concentrations from 0 to 1500 mM.
Compared findings with previous studies on polymer-nucleic acid interactions.
Short polymers significantly influenced the stability and morphology of complexes under varying salt concentrations.
dsDNA formed precipitates at all lengths, while tRNA consistently formed coacervate droplets across all polylysine variants.
Nucleic acid architecture modulated phase transitions, demonstrating varying behavior of complexes in salt through different ionic strengths.