Sensitivity of DNA Sensors in the Presence of Charged Ligands

Factors that influence both the thermodynamics of hybridization and the stability of the DNA–DNA duplexes are analyzed. The noncompetitive DNA hybridization cases in the presence of mono- and bivalent positively charged ligands have been investigated and the comparison is made with the case of uncharged ligands. It has been shown that the charged ligands enhance the sensitivity of the DNA chips as compared with the uncharged ones.