Telomerase-generated templates for the growing of metal nanowires

Telomers are single-stranded DNA consisting of constant repeat units that are generated by the ribonucleoprotein telomerase present in cancer cells (e.g., HeLa cancer cells). Two methods for using telomer templates for the preparation of Au nanowires are presented. By one method, telomerization is performed in the presence of aminoallyl-functionalized dUTP. The covalent tethering of an active ester-modified Au nanoparticle (1.4 nm) to the amine units followed by the catalytic enlargement of the particles yields the Au nanowires. The second method involves the hybridization of Au nanoparticles functionalized with a nucleic acid that is complementary to the telomere repeat units. The catalytic enlargement of the Au nanoparticles linked to the telomere duplex structure then yields the Au nanowire.