The Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc

The United States Government As Represented by the Department of Veterans Affairs

Gangli Wang

Didier Merlin

Cecil Conroy

Tarushee Ahuja

Tanyu Wang

Yan Li

Zhenghua Tang

Maksim M Kvetny

This invention is based, in part, on our discovery of an essentially one-step, label-free system comprising a sensing unit having a redox current reporter and a nucleic acid sequence complementary to that of a target nucleic acid of interest or sufficiently complementary to that of the target nucleic acid or a sequence therein to specifically bind the target nucleic acid. The sensing unit is bound to an electroconductive substrate (e.g., a carbon- or metal-containing microelectrode (e.g., a gold microelectrode)), and the system includes a signal amplification mechanism that does not rely upon a redox enzyme and thereby overcomes a fundamental limitation of microelectrode DNA sensors that fail to generate detectable current in the presence of only small amounts of a target nucleic acid.

Systems for detecting and quantifying nucleic acids

Monolayer protected nanoclusters (MPCs) are described herein. The MPCs contain a cluster of atoms or molecules (e.g. core) having bound thereto a plurality of ligands (e.g., monolayer). The ligands can be bound covalently or semi-covalently bound to the cluster. The ligands are generally in the form of a monolayer or mixed monolayer. The monolayer or mixed monolayer contains a plurality of ligands. In one embodiment, the monolayer and/or mixed monolayer contains 1,4-dithiolate ligands. The MPCs described herein exhibit improved quantum efficiency allowing for single cluster emissions to be measured. Moreover, some embodiments of the MPCs described herein exhibit enhanced redox activity, including the ability to transfer a plurality of electrons, i.e., up to about 19 or up to about 30 electrons under controlled conditions, while displaying improved overall chemical stability. Such behavior can be utilized in catalysis and nanoelectronics applications.

Monolayer protected nanoclusters and methods of making and using thereof

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for the controlled crystallization of a compound. The controlled crystallization is achieved by applying an electric field across solutions of target compound and precipitant, whereby the electric field controls the rate of mixing.

Electrically controlled nucleation and crystallization

Growing community of inventors

Brookhaven, GA, United States of America

Gangli Wang