发夹式DNA探针检测水中汞EI北大核心CSCD

利用荧光染料双标记的DNA探针,实现了对水中Hg^(2+)的一步检测。实验中使用的DNA探针是富T结构的发夹式DNA探针链,若水样中不存在Hg^(2+),双标记的DNA探针两端的荧光染料Cy3与Cy5之间的距离很小,会发生荧光能量共振转移,Cy3的荧光发射强度降低;反之,Hg^(2+)会与DNA探针上的T碱基生成T-Hg^(2+)-T的稳定结构,使DNA链结构发生变化,同时Cy3,Cy5之间的距离变大,二者间的能量共振转移减弱甚至消失,Cy3的荧光发射强度回升。因此,通过Hg^(2+)的浓度与Cy3的荧光发射强度的变化的线性关系,可以实现Hg^(2+)的定量检测。     

发夹式DNA探针检测水中汞

利用荧光染料双标记的DNA探针,实现了对水中Hg~(2+)的一步检测。实验中使用的DNA探针是富T结构的发夹式DNA探针链,若水样中不存在Hg~(2+),双标记的DNA探针两端的荧光染料Cy3与Cy5之间的距离很小,会发生荧光能量共振转移,Cy3的荧光发射强度降低;反之,Hg~(2+)会与DNA探针上的T碱基生成T-Hg~(2+)-T的稳定结构,使DNA链结构发生变化,同时Cy3,Cy5之间的距离变大,二者间的能量共振转移减弱甚至消失,Cy3的荧光发射强度回升。因此,通过Hg~(2+)的浓度与Cy3的荧光发射强度的变化的线性关系,可以实现Hg~(2+)的定量检测。     

一种具有双重功能的可视化pH荧光探针的合成及光谱研究

以二烯单酮结构为荧光团,酚羟基为脱质子基团,合成了一种具有双重功能的可视化pH荧光分子探针.pH滴定实验表明,探针的紫外吸收和荧光光谱均对溶液的pH值有很强的依赖性,当体系溶液由酸性变为碱性时,探针的紫外吸收光谱发生明显的红移,并伴有溶液颜色的显著变化;荧光光谱强度在酸性条件下随pH值的变化不大,而在碱性条件下随pH值...     

比率型荧光纸芯片快速检测赭曲霉毒素A

采用双荧光染料构建了一种新型比率型荧光纸芯片,将荧光染料Cy3和Cy5分别作为荧光供体和荧光受体,以二者间荧光共振能量转移(FRET)引起的荧光变化实现对赭曲霉毒素A(OTA)的一步法快速灵敏检测。将标记Cy3基团的核酸适配体(Aptamer)和标记Cy5基团的辅助DNA(aDNA)同时与纸芯片表面的互补DNA(CDNA)形成特定双链结构而发生FRET,导致Cy3荧光减弱而Cy5荧光增强。当存在OTA时,Aptamer与OTA结合后脱离双链结构,Cy3和Cy5两个荧光团远离,Cy3荧光增强而Cy5荧光减弱。实验结果表明,此系统的比率信号F₅₆₇/F₆₆₉(F₅₆₇/F₆₆₉为Cy3在567 nm处的荧光强度值与Cy5在669 nm处荧光强度值的比值)与OTA浓度在10～300 nmol/L范围内呈良好的线性响应,检出限(S/N=3)为5.6 nmol/L,花生和红酒样品中OTA的加标回收率为92.7%～107.6%。此传感器为食品中OTA等霉菌毒素污染检测提供了一种高效便捷的新方法。     

双链特异性核酸酶介导的高灵敏度microRNA分析

基于氧化石墨烯(GO)对荧光标记单链DNA探针的荧光猝灭效应以及双链特异性核酸酶(DSN)选择性切割DNA/RNA杂合结构中DNA单链的特性,本文建立了一种新型恒温信号放大方法用于microRNA(miRNA)的高灵敏度检测.靶标miRNA首先与荧光DNA探针杂交,DSN能够特异性地将杂合双链中的DNA探针水解为碎片但不会降解miRNA,GO对酶切产生的寡核苷酸碎片吸附能力显著降低,使得荧光基团远离GO表面而不被猝灭.释放出的miRNA可再次发生与荧光DNA探针杂交、DSN酶切等反应,如此反复,可实现恒温条件下一个miRNA分子与多个探针杂交、酶切、释放荧光基团的循环过程,最终体系的荧光信号得到显著放大,通过记录体系的荧光信号即可实现对靶标miRNA的灵敏检测.     

基于催化发夹组装和荧光共振能量转移的生物传感器检测EV71病毒

以肠道病毒71型(EV71)为检测对象，建立了基于催化发夹组装(CHA)和荧光共振能量转移(FRET)的生物传感器。设计了检测EV71 VP1基因的CHA信号放大策略，该体系由一对发夹探针(H1、 H2)构成，H1和H2分别标记了荧光基团Cy3和Cy5。当体系中有VP1基因时，可引发H1和H2催化自组装反应，从而使得Cy3和Cy5相互靠近并发生FRET,导致Cy3荧光信号降低，Cy5信号增强；当体系中没有VP1基因时，H1和H2则稳定存在于反应体系中，不发生FRET,只检测到Cy3的荧光信号。优化了缓冲液浓度、 H1与H2的比例、反应温度和反应时间。在最优条件下，所构建的传感器的Cy5与Cy3的荧光强度比值与EV71 VP1基因浓度在0.5～20 nmol/L范围内呈良好的线性关系，检出限为73 pmol/L(3σ)。咽拭子样品的加标回收率为99.6%～103.1%,相对标准偏差在0.3%～1.7%之间。本方法具有较好的特异性及抗干扰能力，在EV71监测和手足口病早期诊断方面具有良好的应用前景。     

溴化乙锭标记DNA电化学探针的研究

以乙基-(3-二甲基丙基)碳化二亚胺盐酸盐(EDC)为偶联活化剂,将电化学活性物质溴化乙锭(Ethidiumbromide,EB)成功地标记在人工合成的含有21个碱基的寡聚DNA片段上,制备成EB标记DNA探针;用电化学方法将待测样品DNA片段固定在石墨电极表面,在一定的温度、pH值和离子强度条件下与EB标记DNA探针进行杂交反应,从而对靶序列DNA片段进行识别和测定.此外,还讨论了该探针的电化学性质、荧光光谱、待测DNA片段在石墨电极表面的电化学固定、DNA链碱基长度对EB标记DNA电化学探针的影响以及探针的选择性、重现性和寿命,结果令人满意.     

半导体纳米粒子与金纳米粒子间荧光共振能量转移研究

采用水相法合成的CdTe半导体纳米粒子作为能量给体, 通过Schiff碱反应将单链DNA连接到表面. 采用柠檬酸钠还原氯金酸法制取的Au纳米粒子作为能量受体, 通过Au—S键将单链DNA连接到表面. 通过DNA链间的杂交, 构建了荧光共振能量转移体系(FRET). 测定了CdTe-DNA、 探针体系和探针体系+目标DNA的荧光强度. 结果表明, 探针体系的荧光强度最弱, 加入目标DNA后, 体系荧光增强, 表明该体系的构建是成功的.     

一种耐光漂白的碳菁型pH荧光探针的合成与细胞成像

设计合成了一种引入多个氯原子取代的耐光漂白的碳菁型pH荧光探针(CyCl4), 在500 nm波长光的激发下, 该探针具有530和596 nm两个波长的荧光峰, 其中的596 nm荧光峰在pH 8.5环境中具有最高的荧光信号值, 在pH<8.1和>9.8的条件下则荧光很弱, 通过密度泛函方法计算这三种荧光状态分别对应的三种构象结构A, B和C, 而结构B中的两个磺酸基构成分子内氢键而具有共面性几何构型, 共轭程度最好, 因而其荧光发射能力最强. 测量了该探针的荧光量子产率、瞬态荧光光谱和耐光漂白性能, 其耐光漂白性能强于一般染料型荧光探针. 最后将该探针应用于前列腺癌活细胞荧光成像, 并发现其在细胞膜表面的聚集现象.     

脂质体荧光探针检测磷脂酶C的活性

建立了一种以荧光标记脂质体为探针检测磷脂酶 C (PLC) 活性的新方法.此荧光探针是由二棕榈酰磷脂酰胆碱(DPPC)和丽丝胺罗丹明B标记的荧光磷脂(Liss Rhod PE)通过自组装形成有序的荧光标记脂质体,探针脂质体中Liss Rhod PE由于相互之间距离靠近产生自猝灭效应,因而作为探针的脂质体并不表现出荧光性质.当在此探针溶液中加入目标物PLC,PLC可以水解切割标记在磷脂酰基二位上的荧光团罗丹明,使其从脂质体释放到溶液中,导致自猝灭效应的减弱,溶液荧光信号增强,以此实现对PLC活性的检测.使用此探针检测PLC活性,荧光强度的增加值与PLC浓度在5~300 U/L范围内呈良好的线性关系,检出限为2 U/L(S/N=3).此外,此探针还可用于PLC抑制剂的筛选.     

pH-induced intramolecular folding dynamics of i-motif DNA

Using the combination of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) technique, we investigate the mechanism and dynamics of the pH-induced conformational change of i-motif DNA in the bulk phases and at the single-molecule level. Despite numerous studies on i-motif that is formed from cytosine (C)-rich strand at slightly acidic pH, its detailed conformational dynamics have been rarely reported. Using the FRET technique to provide valuable information on the structure of biomolecules such as a protein and DNA, we clearly show that the partially folded species as well as the single-stranded structure coexist at neutral pH, supporting that the partially folded species may exist substantially in vivo and play an important role in a process of gene expression. By measuring the FCS curves of i-motif, we observed the gradual decrease of the diffusion coefficient of i-motif with increasing pH. The quantitative analysis of FCS curves supports that the gradual decrease of diffusion coefficient (D) associated with the conformational change of i-motif is not only due to the change in the intermolecular interaction between i-motif and solvent accompanied by the increase of pH but also due to the change of the shape of DNA. Furthermore, FCS analysis showed that the intrachain contact formation and dissociation for i-motif are 5-10 times faster than that for the open form. The fast dynamics of i-motif with a compact tetraplex is due to the intrinsic conformational changes at the fluorescent site including the motion of alkyl chain connecting the dye to DNA, whereas the slow intrachain contact formation observed from the open form is due to the DNA motion corresponding to an early stage interaction in the folding process of the unstructured open form.     

Use of the Cy3 and Cy5 Fluorescent Labels to Protect a DNA Strand from Degradation under λ Exonuclease Treatment

λ Exonuclease hydrolyzes a 5′-phosphorylated strand of double-stranded DNA in the 5′–3′ direction. In this paper, the activity of the enzyme with respect to DNA substrates containing Cy3 and Cy5 fluorescent labels at their 5′ ends is studied for the first time. It is demonstrated using the fluorescence procedure for measuring the exonuclease activity that double-stranded DNA, of which both the 5′ ends contain these fluorophores, is not destroyed under the action of λ exonuclease. Using the electrophoretic separation of DNA in polyacrylamide gel, the process of obtaining single-stranded DNA from double-stranded precursors containing different labels at the 5′ ends is studied. It is shown that the introduction of Cy3 and Cy5 fluorophores to the 5′ end of the DNA strand protects this strand from enzyme damage both in the duplex and in single-stranded form, and these labels can be used to produce fluorescently labeled single-stranded DNA.     

A ratiometric fluorescent probe for imaging hydroxyl radicals in living cells

A novel fluorescent probe, the detection mechanism of which is based on the 'on-off' switching of a FRET triggered by the *OH-induced cleavage of a DNA strand, has been developed for the ratiometric imaging of *OH.     

A pH-responsive activatable aptamer probe for targeted cancer imaging based on i-motif-driven conformation alteration

We present here a p H-responsive activatable aptamer probe for targeted cancer imaging based on i-motif-driven conformation alteration. This p H-responsive activatable aptamer probe is composed of two single-stranded DNA. One was used for target recognition, containing a central, target specific aptamer sequence at the 3′-end and an extension sequence at the 5′-end with 5-carboxytetramethylrhodamine(TAMRA) label(denoted as strand A). The other(strand I), being competent to work on the formation of i-motif structure, contained four stretches of the cytosine(C) rich domain and was labeled with a Black Hole Quencher 2(BHQ2) at the 3′-end. At neutral or slightly alkaline p H, strand I was hybridized to the extension sequence of strand A to form a double-stranded DNA probe, termed i-motif-based activatable aptamer probe(I-AAP). Because of proximityinduced energy transfer, the I-AAP was in a "signal off" state. The slightly acidic p H enforced the strand I to form an intramolecular i-motif and then initiated the dehybridization of I-AAP, leading to fluorescence readout in the target recognition. As a demonstration, AS1411 aptamer was used for MCF-7 cells imaging. It was displayed that the I-AAP could be carried out for target cancer cells imaging after being activated in slightly acidic environment. The applicability of I-AAP for tumor tissues imaging has been also investigated by using the isolated MCF-7 tumor tissues. These results implied the I-AAP strategy is promising as a novel approach for cancer imaging.     

Design and characterization of two-dye and three-dye binary fluorescent probes for mRNA detection

We report the design, synthesis, and characterization of binary oligonucleotide probes for mRNA detection. The probes were designed to avoid common problems found in standard binary probes such as direct excitation of the acceptor fluorophore and overlap between the donor and acceptor emission spectra. Two different probes were constructed that contained an array of either two or three dyes and were characterized using steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy, time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, and fluorescence depolarization measurements. The three-dye binary probe (BP-3d) consists of a Fam fluorophore which acts as a donor, collecting light and transferring it as energy to Tamra, which subsequently transfers energy to Cy5 when the two probes are hybridized to mRNA. This design allows the use of 488 nm excitation, which avoids the direct excitation of Cy5 and at the same time provides a good fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) efficiency. The two-dye binary probe system (BP-2d) was constructed with Alexa488 and Cy5 fluorophores. Although the overlap between the fluorescence of Alexa488 and the absorption of Cy5 is relatively low, FRET still occurs due to their close physical proximity when the probes are hybridized to mRNA. This framework also decreases the direct excitation of Cy5 and reduces the fluorescence overlap between the donor and the acceptor. Picosecond time-resolved spectroscopy showed a reduction in the fluorescence lifetime of donor fluorophores after the formation of the hybrid between the probes and target mRNA. Interestingly, BP-2d in the presence of mRNA shows a slow rise in the fluorescence decay of Cy5 due to a relatively slow FRET rate, which together with the reduction in the Alexa488 lifetime provides a way to improve the signal to background ratio using time-resolved fluorescence spectra (TRES). In addition, fluorescence depolarization measurements showed complete depolarization of the acceptor dyes (Cy5) for both BP-3d (due to sequential FRET steps) and BP-2d (due to the relatively low FRET rate) in the presence of the mRNA target.     

DNA hydrogels formed of bended DNA scaffolds and properties study

In recent years,DNA supramolecular hydrogels have attracted much attention due to their injectability,biocompatibility,responsiveness and self-healing properties.In this work,we designed a linear DNA brick containing one duplex with two cytosine (C)-rich sequence on both ends.This brick can first assemble to form duplex under pH 8 condition.After adjusting the pH to 5,the C-rich sequence tends to form intermolecular i-motif structure,which joins the linear DNA molecules together to form interlocked cyclic structures and yield the DNA hydrogel.By adjusting the length and bending curvature of the duplex part of the molecule,one can change the basic unit of the hydrogel structure to tune the properties of the DNA hydrogel.     

A New Near-Infrared Neutral pH Fluorescent Probe for Monitoring Minor pH Changes and its Application in Imaging of HepG2 Cells

A new near-neutral pH near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe utilizing a fluorophore–receptor molecular framework that can modulate the fluorescence emission intensity through a fast photoinduced electron transfer process was developed. Our strategy was to choose tricarbocyanine (Cy), a NIR fluorescent dye with high extinction coefficients, as a fluorophore, and N-methylpiperazine (MP) as a receptor. The pH titration indicated that MP-Cy can monitor the minor physiological pH fluctuations with a pKa of ～7.10 near physiological pH, which is valuable for intracellular pH researches. The probe responds linearly and rapidly to minor pH fluctuations within the range of 3.05–7.10 and exhibits strong dependence on pH changes. As expected, the real-time imaging of cellular pH and the detection of pH in situ was achieved successfully in living HepG2 cells by this probe. It is shown that the probe effectively avoids the influence of autofluorescence and native cellular species in biological systems and meanwhile exhibits high sensitivity, good photostability, and excellent cell membrane permeability.     

Detection of FRET efficiency in imaging systems by photo-bleaching acceptors

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is widely used to obtain the distance between a donor and an acceptor in biological research. However, the detection of FRET efficiencies with fluorescence microscopy imaging systems remains a great challenge due to the difficulties of transferring gray scales of the images into fluorescence intensities, and the absence of exact quantum yields of donors and acceptors. Herein, we presented a new method to detect the FRET efficiency in imaging systems by analyzing the photo-bleaching-induced changes in fluorescent intensities of quantum dots (QDs, donors) and Cy5 dyes (acceptors). Our method is different from the previous acceptor-photo-bleaching studies in imaging systems by theoretically analyzing the bleaching process, and bringing forward a new parameter which is universal for samples of the same kind. It is convenient for calculating FRET efficiencies. There is hardly any spectral crosstalk between 605QD and Cy5, thus the FRET result is more accurate than that of many other common FRET pairs. The lengths of single-stranded and double-stranded DNA fragments in solution were determined via the analysis of FRET efficiency values. This technique provides a reliable approach to study biomacromolecules in living cells through fluorescent imaging and in situ measurements.     

Cationic conjugated polyelectrolyte/molecular beacon complex for sensitive, sequence-specific, real-time DNA detection

A new fluorescence method has been developed for DNA detection at room temperature in a sensitive, selective, economical, and real-time manner that interfaces the superiority of a molecular beacon in mismatch discrimination with the light-harvesting property of water-soluble conjugated polyelectrolytes. The probe solution contains a cationic conjugated polyelectrolyte (PFP-NMe3+), a molecular beacon with a five base pairs double-stranded stem labeled at the 5'-terminus with fluorescein (DNA P-Fl), and ethidium bromide (EB, a specific intercalator of dsDNA). The electrostatic interactions between DNA P-Fl and PFP-NMe3+ keep them in close proximity, facilitating the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from PFP-NMe3+ to fluorescein. Upon adding a complementary strand to the probe solution, the conformation of DNA P-Fl transits into dsDNA followed by the intercalation of EB into the grooves. Two-step FRET, from PFP-NMe3+ to DNA P-Fl (FRET-1), followed by FRET from DNA P-Fl to EB (FRET-2) takes place. In view of the observed fluorescein or EB emission changes, DNA can be detected in aqueous solution. Because the base mismatch in target DNA inhibits the transition of DNA P-Fl from the stem-loop to duplex structure, single nucleotide mismatch can be clearly detected.     

Analytical potential of the quadruplex DNA-based FRET probes

DNA exhibits structural flexibility and may adopt also tetraplex structures known as guanine-quadruplexes or G-quadruplexes. These G-quadruplexes have recently received great attention because G-rich sequences are often found in genome and because of their potential links to mechanisms that relate to cancer, HIV, and other diseases. The unique structure of quadruplexes has also stimulated development of new analytical and bioanalytical assays based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Intramolecular folding of a flexible single-stranded DNA molecule into a compact G-quadruplex is a structural transition leading to closer proximity of its 5'- and 3'-ends. Thus, labeling both ends of a DNA strand with donor and acceptor fluorophores enables monitoring the quadruplex formation process by means of the FRET signal. This review shows how FRET technique contributes to G-quadruplex research and focuses mainly on analytical applications of FRET-labeled quadruplexes. Applications include studies of structural transitions of quadruplexes, FRET-based selection of ligands that bind to quadruplexes, design of molecular probes for protein recognition and development of sensors for detection of potassium ions in aqueous solution.