title: Highly thymine-dependent formation of fluorescent copper nanoparticles templated by ss-DNA.
abstract: Double-stranded DNAs (ds-DNAs) have been identified as efficient templates favoring the formation of fluorescent copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs). Herein, we have tried to synthesize fluorescent Cu NPs using single-stranded DNAs (ss-DNAs) as templates and to identify the critical DNA sequences. By comparing the results using homopolymer DNAs, hairpin DNAs, and pristine ss-DNAs as templates, we found that DNA thymine base plays a dominant role in producing red-emissive fluorescent Cu NPs on ss-DNA templates. The thymine-dependent growth of the fluorescent Cu NPs is confirmed by Hg2+ mediated T–T base pair in comparison with the other non-specific metal ions, which could be developed into a practical sensor for turn-on fluorescence detection of Hg2+ with a high selectivity. The mechanism is briefly discussed according the DNA sequence-dependent formation of fluorescent Cu NPs. This work demonstrates the sequence role in producing fluorescent Cu NPs that could serve as promising fluorescent nanoprobes in biosensing and DNA-hosted Cu nanomaterials.
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Reactive Chemistry on Solid Surfaces, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Guiying
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shujuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D013941:Thymine / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003300:Copper; D004247:DNA; D013941:Thymine