Rezumat
CZU 539.2
DOI https://doi.org/10.52577/eom.2025.61.2.50
The arguments confirming and refuting the plausibility of a solid-state approach to the analysis of the properties of RNA and other nucleic acids are discussed in the introduction. Substantiations are given for the rationality of a parallel indication of the electrophysical and phase properties of nucleic acids and their constituents, taking into account the effects of the medium components and the mechanisms of their action. The dependence of such effects on the ionic composition of the medium and the hydration degree of the sample is pointed out. Based on the mechanisms of the RNA-based complex formation, methods are proposed to study the dependence of the electrophysical properties of dehydrated, solid-state RNA samples on the ionic composition of the medium, including the nature of the counter-ions. A number of methods used includes direct visualization of the surface charging using low voltage electron microscopy and oscilloscope/waveform monitor; direct study of molecular dynamics in solid-phase samples of RNA and its salts by measuring proton magnetic relaxation to estimate spin-spin relaxation times and fractions of protons with different mobility; the analysis of the phase state of crystalline RNA and its salts using thermogravimetry; measurements of frequency dispersion (spectra) of dielectric permittivity of crystalline RNA and its salts up to the microwave bands. For the RNA bioelectronics development, the above methods allowed to establish: a) transduction of an electrophysical signal; b) the presence of a nanostructure capable of the signal transduction; c) dependence of the signal transduction on the ionic composition of the sample since pure solid-state RNA and its sodium salt demonstrate significantly different electron beam-induced charging, proton mobility and frequency dispersion of dielectric permittivity in radiofrequency band (up to the microwave region).
Keywords: RNA bioelectronics, organic electronics, biomolecular electronics, supramolecular ionics, scanning electron microscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, NMR, thermogravimetric analysis, impedance spectroscopy.