Structural and functional characterization of self-assembled monolayers of peptide nucleic acids and its interaction with complementary DNA

Ordered self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of single-stranded peptide nucleic acid (ssPNA) molecules can be formed on gold surfaces, with efficient capability for recognizing complementary ssDNA. By X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, we proved that in spite of their remarkable length (6-7 nm), ssPNA molecules can assemble standing-up on the surface similar to the SAMs of short alkanethiols.