New G-Triplex DNA Dramatically Activates the Fluorescence of Thioflavin T and Acts as a Turn-On Fluorescent Sensor for Uracil-DNA Glycosylase Activity Detection

Anal Chem. 2024 May 28;96(21):8458-8466. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c00164. Epub 2024 May 6.

Abstract

G-triplexes are G-rich oligonucleotides composed of three G-tracts and have absorbed much attention due to their potential biological functions and attractive performance in biosensing. Through the optimization of loop compositions, DNA lengths, and 5'-flanking bases of G-rich sequences, a new stable G-triplex sequence with 14 bases (G3-F15) was discovered to dramatically activate the fluorescence of Thioflavin T (ThT), a water-soluble fluorogenic dye. The fluorescence enhancement of ThT after binding with G3-F15 reached 3200 times, which was the strongest one by far among all of the G-rich sequences. The conformations of G3-F15 and G3-F15/ThT were studied by circular dichroism. The thermal stability measurements indicated that G3-F15 was a highly stable G-triplex structure. The conformations of G3-F15 and G3-F15/ThT in the presence of different metal cations were studied thoroughly by fluorescent spectroscopy, circular dichroism, and nuclear magnetic resonance. Furthermore, using the G3-F15/ThT complex as a fluorescent probe, a robust and simple turn-on fluorescent sensor for uracil-DNA glycosylase activity was developed. This study proposes a new systematic strategy to explore new functional G-rich sequences and their ligands, which will promote their applications in diagnosis, therapy, and biosensing.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Benzothiazoles* / chemistry
  • Benzothiazoles* / metabolism
  • Biosensing Techniques / methods
  • Circular Dichroism
  • DNA* / chemistry
  • DNA* / metabolism
  • Fluorescence*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence
  • Uracil-DNA Glycosidase* / chemistry
  • Uracil-DNA Glycosidase* / metabolism

Substances

  • Benzothiazoles
  • DNA
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • thioflavin T
  • triplex DNA
  • Uracil-DNA Glycosidase