| Institution: | 1. Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;2. Advanced Light Microscopy, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Madrid, Spain;3. Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas, Madrid, Spain;4. Molecular Oncology Program, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO), Madrid, Spain;5. Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology and Department of Ophthalmology, Albany Medical Center, Albany, New York, USA;6. Nanomedicine, Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies in Nanoscience (IMDEA Nanociencia), Madrid, Spain |
| Abstract: | Temperature measurement at the nanoscale has brought insight to a wide array of research interests in modern chemistry, physics, and biology. These measurements have been enabled by the advent of nanothermometers, which relay nanoscale temperature information through the analysis of their intrinsic photophysical behavior. In the past decade, several nanothermometers have been developed including dyes, nanodiamonds, fluorescent proteins, nucleotides, and nanoparticles. However, temperature measurement using intact DNA has not yet been achieved. Here, we present a method to study the temperature sensitivity of the DNA molecule within a physiologic temperature range when complexed with fluorescent dye. We theoretically and experimentally report the temperature sensitivity of the DNA-Hoechst 33342 complex in different sizes of double-stranded oligonucleotides and plasmids, showing its potential use as a nanothermometer. These findings allow for extending the thermal study of DNA to several research fields including DNA nanotechnology, optical tweezers, and DNA nanoparticles. |
