Colorimetric Determination of DNA Methylation Based on the Strength of the Hydrophobic Interactions between DNA and Gold Nanoparticles

A simple, novel colorimetric nanosensor for DNA methylation based on the strength of hydrophobic interaction between DNA and gold nanoparticles was proposed. The nanosensing of oligonucleotides with four nitrogen bases was first demonstrated by dividing the bases into two groups (A/T and C/G) using the representative colors that correspond to Watson–Crick base pairing. By treatment of the genomic DNA with sodium bisulfite followed by PCR amplification, the methylation level of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells treated with 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine for up to 5 days could be discriminated by naked eye observation. Furthermore, 12 cancer cell lines that demonstrate heterogeneity with respect to DNA methylation could also be distinguished using the nanosensor, even for amplicons as long as 342 bp. These results demonstrate that the proposed colorimetric nanosensor could potentially be useful in epigenetic studies.