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DNA branched junctions induced the enhanced fluorescence recovery of FAM-labeled probes on rGO for detecting Pb2+

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Abstract

The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) could strongly adsorb and quench the fluorescence of dye-labeled single-stranded DNA (ssDNA); thus, it is widely applied in fluorescent sensors. However, these sensors may suffer from a limited sensitivity due to the low fluorescence recovery when adding the complementary DNA (cDNA) sequence. In this work, the powerful DNA branched junctions were constructed to improve the fluorescence recovery of FAM-labeled probe on rGO. In the presence of target Pb2+, the ribonucleotide (rA) in the substrate was cleaved specifically and the catalytic hairpin assembly of three metastable hairpins was further initiated, accompanied by the formation of DNA branched junctions. Then, the liberated Pb2+ could be recyclable. Impressively, the DNA branched junctions not only hybridize with the FAM-labeled probes with a high efficiency, but also are significantly undesirable for the rGO. Thus, a high fluorescence recovery of FAM-labeled probe on rGO was expected. The integration of the high fluorescence recovery and dual-cycle signal amplification endows the sensing strategy with a good performance for Pb2+ detection, including low detection limit (0.17 nM), good selectivity, and satisfactory practical applicability. The proposed DNA branched junctions offer a novel avenue to improve the fluorescence recovery of the dye-labeled probes on rGO for biological analysis.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21775122, 21775124); the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing City (cstc2018icyjAX0693), China; the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (BK20170378); and the Natural Science Research Foundation of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (17KJB150036).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chongqing Engineering Laboratory of Nanomaterials & Sensor Technologies, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Juanli Wang, Shihong Chen & Ruo Yuan

  2. Institute of Materials Science & Devices, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, 215009, Jiangsu, China

    Fangxin Hu

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  1. Juanli Wang
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Correspondence to Shihong Chen.

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Wang, J., Chen, S., Yuan, R. et al. DNA branched junctions induced the enhanced fluorescence recovery of FAM-labeled probes on rGO for detecting Pb2+. Anal Bioanal Chem 412, 2455–2463 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02458-2

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