Nanoscale memory provided by thermoreversible stochastically structured polymer aggregates on mica.

Stimuli-responsive polymers are used in a large variety of applications due to the controlled manner in which their physical properties can be reversibly altered. In this study, we demonstrate the thermoreversible structuring of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based polymer. By temperature-controlled atomic force microscopy, we demonstrate that polymer aggregates form on mica above the polymer lower critical solution temperature and disperse below it, and in so doing, display positional "memory" in that the nanodomains are retained in the same positions and with the same shapes during repeated cooling/heating cycles.

Structure and thickness dependence of "molecular wiring" in nanostructured enzyme multilayers.

Supramolecular organized multilayers composed of glucose oxidase (GOx) and osmium-derivatized poly(allylamine) redox polymer have been self-assembled electrostatically from Os-polyelectrolyte solutions of variable pH (5.5-8.8) leading to a decrease of the linear charge density in the PAH-Os with increasing pH.

Long-range RNA-RNA interactions circularize the dengue virus genome.

Secondary and tertiary RNA structures present in viral RNA genomes play essential regulatory roles during translation, RNA replication, and assembly of new viral particles. In the case of flaviviruses, RNA-RNA interactions between the 5' and 3' ends of the genome have been proposed to be required for RNA replication. We found that two RNA elements present at the ends of the dengue virus genome interact in vitro with high affinity.