Immobilization of DNA at Glassy Ccarbon Electrodes: A Critical Study of Adsorbed Layer

In this work we present a critical study of the nucleic acid layer immobilized at glassy carbon electrodes. Different studies were performed in order to assess the nature of the interaction between DNA and the electrode surface. The adsorption and electrooxidation of DNA demonstrated to be highly dependent on the surface and nature of the glassy carbon electrode. The DNA layer immobilized at a freshly polished glassy carbon electrode was very stable even after applying highly negative potentials. The electron transfer of potassium ferricyanide, catechol and dopamine at glassy carbon surfaces modified with thin (obtained by adsorption under controlled potential conditions) and thick (obtained by casting the glassy carbon surface with highly concentrated DNA solutions) DNA layers was slower than that at the bare glassy carbon electrode, although this effect was dependent on the thickness of the layer and was not charge selective. Raman experiments showed an important decrease of the vibrational modes assigned to the nucleobases residues, suggesting a strong interaction of these residues with the electrode surface. The hybridization of oligo(dG)21 and oligo(dC)21 was evaluated from the guanine oxidation signal and the reduction of the redox indicator Co(phen)3. In both cases the chronopotentiometric response indicated that the compromise of the bases in the interaction of DNA with the electrode surface is too strong, preventing further hybridization. In summary, glassy carbon is a useful electrode material to detect DNA in a direct and very sensitive way, but not to be used for the preparation of biorecognition layers by direct adsorption of the probe sequence on the electrode surface for detecting the hybridization event.