Facile method to detect oligonucleotides with functionalized polydiacetylene vesicles

Polydiacetylene vesicles were used to detect oligonucleotides in the present paper. For this system, probe-oligonucleotide-functionalized polydiacetylene vesicles were used as indicators of color transition and amplification tags at the same time in the detection of oligonucleotides. The method described is simple, rapid, and suitable for detection of oligonucleotides by naked eye. The influences of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) in the color changeable polydiacetylene vesicles on the detection of oligonucleotides were also studied. The experimental results demonstrated that DMPC can effectively adjust the mechanical stress of polydiacetylenic structure and the content of DMPC in polydiacetylene structure is a crucial factor for a more sensitive polydiacetylene-based sensor. The maximum colorimetric response for the detection of oligonucleotides was obtained for the polydiacetylene vesicle composed of TCDA/DMPC/probe-DNA with molar ratio of 0.60:0.39:0.01. Both cases for too much or for too less DMPC in polydiacetylene vesicles are not benefit to the detection for this system. The TEM images further confirmed the results obtained.