Study on the interaction between a fluorine-containing amphiphilic cationic copolymer and nucleic acid by resonance light scattering technique

A novel fluorine-containing amphiphilic cationic copolymer P(HFMA-St-MOTAC)-g-PEG was synthesized as a new probe to detect DNA based on the RLS technique. The aggregation of P(HFMA-St-MOTAC)-g-PEG on the molecular surface of DNA occurred under pH 4.0–7.0 resulted in an enhanced resonance light-scattering (RLS) peaks at 370 nm, 400 nm, 420 nm and 470 nm. The intensity of resonance light-scattering was found to be proportional to the concentration of DNA. The detection limit was 5.8 μg L−1. It was found that the P(HFMA-St-MOTAC)-g-PEG has strong interaction with DNA as confirmed by the resonance light scattering (RLS) spectroscopy, UV spectra, IR spectra, and TEM.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideResearch highlights▶ A new fluorine-containing amphiphilic copolymer was synthesized. ▶ The polymer can determine DNA with high sensitivity, it has application meaning. ▶ The interaction with DNA is found to be very strong. ▶ The study is expected to open us new applications of fluoro-polymers.