title: A DNA-templated silver nanocluster probe for label-free, turn-on fluorescence-based screening of homo-adenine binding molecules.
abstract: A novel, label-free, turn-on fluorescence strategy to detect molecules that bind to adenine-rich DNA sequences has been developed. The probe employs DNA-templated silver nanoclusters (DNA-AgNCs) as the key detection component. The new strategy relies on the formation of non-Watson-Crick homo-adenine DNA duplex, triggered by strong interactions with homo-adenine binding molecules, which brings a guanine-rich sequence in one strand close to DNA-AgNCs located on the opposite strand. This phenomenon transforms weakly fluorescent AgNCs into highly emissive species that display bright red fluorescence. Finally, we have shown that the new fluorescence turn-on strategy can be employed to detect coralyne, the most representative homo-adenine binding molecule that triggers formation of a non-Watson-Crick homo-adenine DNA duplex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21+ Program), KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ki Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21+ Program), KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: hgpark@kaist.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Hyun Gyu
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000225:Adenine / Q000737:chemistry*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015342:DNA Probes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D054802:Molecular Imprinting / Q000379:methods*; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010316:Particle Size; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D000225:Adenine
keywords: Coralyne; DNA-templated silver nanoclusters; Fluorescence signal enhancement; Fluorescent biosensors; Homo-adenine binding molecules