FUNCTIONALIZING GOLD NANOPARTICLES WITH A DNA APTAMER FOR BIOSENSING 25-HYDROXYVITAMIN D3
dc.contributor.author | Hansson, Benjamin | |
dc.contributor.copyright-release | Not Applicable | |
dc.contributor.degree | Master of Science | |
dc.contributor.department | Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science | |
dc.contributor.ethics-approval | Not Applicable | |
dc.contributor.external-examiner | n/a | |
dc.contributor.manuscripts | Not Applicable | |
dc.contributor.thesis-reader | Laurent Kreplak | |
dc.contributor.thesis-reader | Alan Fine | |
dc.contributor.thesis-reader | Kimberley Hall | |
dc.contributor.thesis-supervisor | Kevin Hewitt | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2025-05-29T17:39:00Z | |
dc.date.available | 2025-05-29T17:39:00Z | |
dc.date.defence | 2025-05-06 | |
dc.date.issued | 2025-05-29 | |
dc.description.abstract | Vitamin D influences over 400 processes in the human body and its deficiency is associated with several diseases such as uterine fibroids. Accessible point-of-need tools are required to detect 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3), a Vitamin D biomarker. This thesis investigated conjugation methods for the specific, yet structurally complex 25(OH)D3 aptamer, VDBA14, to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), common biosensor transducers. Initial approaches using salt-aging, low pH, and freeze conjugation, evaluated with UV-Vis, fluorescence, and salt stability assays, were ineffective due to poor aptamer conjugation and the resulting AuNP aggregation. A promising development was the inclusion of an 18atom hexa-ethyleneglycol spacer between the aptamer and disulphide linker. Freeze conjugation of the modified aptamer improved AuNP stability, with conjugation confirmed by UV-Vis redshift and DNA FT-IR bands. Future experiments are required to demonstrate conjugation without destabilizing AuNPs. This work represents a foundation for functionalizing AuNPs with VDBA14, and the first step towards point-of-need 25(OH)D3 biosensors. | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10222/85156 | |
dc.language.iso | en | |
dc.subject | Gold Nanoparticles | |
dc.subject | DNA Aptamers | |
dc.subject | Vitamin D | |
dc.subject | Biosensing | |
dc.title | FUNCTIONALIZING GOLD NANOPARTICLES WITH A DNA APTAMER FOR BIOSENSING 25-HYDROXYVITAMIN D3 |