Highly thymine-dependent formation of fluorescent copper nanoparticles templated by ss-DNA

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 Hg 2+ 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 Hg 2+ 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 ser...

Guiying Liu, Yong Shao, Jian Peng, Wei Dai, Lingling Liu, Shujuan Xu, Fei Wu and Xiaohua Wu

Click for full article