Biorelevant Latexes and Microgels for the Interaction with Nucleic Acids

This chapter is a review of recent work devoted to polymer colloids with nucleic acids in the domain of biomedical diagnostic, in which latex particles are used as carrier. After a brief introduction concerning the applications of latex particles in the biomedical field, the first part describes the routes leading to the elaboration of reactive latexes using radical-initiated polymerization in heterogeneous media. Second, the adsorption and the chemical grafting of nucleic acids are presented as a function of pH, ionic strength, surface charge density and cationic and anionic nature of particles surface. The good knowledge of the colloidal properties of latex particles permits control of the immobilization process (adsorption and covalent binding) of functionalized single stranded DNA fragments (oligonucleotides). Finally, the last part briefly describes some fine applications based on latex-oligonucleotides in the specific capture of target DNA or RNA and also on colloidal particles for separation and concentration of nucleic acid molecules.