Investigation of the interaction between DNA and cobalt ferrite nanoparticles by FTIR spectroscopy

The interaction of DNA with nanoparticles of cobalt ferrite powder prepared by the mechano-chemical method was studied. It was shown that CoFe(2)O(4) nanoparticles efficiently bind DNA in aqueous solutions (Tris-HCl), forming a bionanocomposite. The adsorption capacity of CoFe(2)O(4) nanoparticles for DNA was evaluated to be 5.25 x 10(-3) mol/m(2). The desorption of DNA from the surface of the particles was analyzed while changing the pH, the ionic strength, and the chemical content of the medium. The DNA-CoFe(2)O(4) nanocomposite was investigated by FTIR spectroscopy. The block of the data allowed one to consider the mechanism of the interaction between a polynucleotide and CoFe(2)O(4) nanoparticles and to make the assumption that the binding occurred due to the coordination interaction of the phosphate groups and heterocyclic bases of DNA (oxygen atoms of thymine and guanine) with metal ions on the particle surface. The analysis of the IR spectra showed that binding can lead to the partial destabilization of the DNA structure, with the B conformation of a polynucleotide being preserved.