Electrical Potential-Assisted DNA Hybridization. How to Mitigate Electrostatics for Surface DNA Hybridization

Surface-confined DNA hybridization reactions are sensitive to the number and identity of DNA capture probes and experimental conditions such as the nature and the ionic strength of the electrolyte solution. When the surface probe density is high or the concentration of bulk ions is much lower than the concentration of ions within the DNA layer, hybridization is significantly slowed down or does not proceed at all. However, high-density DNA monolayers are attractive for designing high-sensitivity DNA sensors. Thus, circumventing sluggish DNA hybridization on such interfaces allows a high surface concentration of target DNA and improved signal/noise ratio. We present potential-assisted hybridization as a strategy in which an external voltage is applied to the ssDNA-modified interface during the hybridization process. Results show that a significant enhancement of hybridization can be achieved using this approach.