A novel signal-amplified strategy based on assembly reactivation for highly specific and sensitive detection of chair-like antiparallel G-quadruplex

G-quadruplex apurinic site-programmed chiral cyanine assemblies for specifically recognizing guanosine and guanine

DNA-tuned dye assemblies have received considerable attention toward developing various devices. Owing to easy conformation implementation, G-quadruplexes (G4s) have been extensively used as initiators to grow dye assemblies with controllable chiralities. However, programmed chirality regulation of dye assemblies for a given G4 sequence has not been realized in a straightforward manner. In this work, we replaced a middle guanine in the G-tracts of a human telomeric G4 with an apurinic site (AP site) to meet the programmed dye assemblies. Although all of the AP site replacements altered the G4 conformation from the hybrid to the antiparallel folding, the handedness of pinacyanol (PIN) assemblies grown on the AP site-containing G4 was programmably regulated. The G4 with the AP site at the 5'-most G-tract grew right-handed assemblies, while that with the AP site at the 3'-most G-tract grew left-handed assemblies. The handedness of assemblies almost totally mirrored each other within 450-700 nm. Interestingly, we found that the AP site provided a specific binding site for guanosine and guanine, and this binding event sensitively broke the chiral assemblies. Thus, dye assembly-based sensors can be easily established based on the chiral responses with a high selectivity and sensitivity. Our work first demonstrates the AP site programmed chirality regulation of G4-grown dye assemblies and will find wide application in chiral devices.

Concurrent formation of H- and J-aggregates of dyes with chiralities individually determined by G-quadruplex handedness

DNA templated dye assemblies pave an easy way to regulate the optical properties of molecular aggregates. G-quadruplexes (G4s) provide versatile DNA platforms for the dye assemblies since their foldings can be easily tuned by cation ions and sequences. In this work, we found that the G4 handedness can be used to control the aggregate chirality of a dye of 3,3'-diethylthiacarbocyanine (DiSC₂(3)). The left-handed and right-handed G4s can template the concurrent formation of the J- and H-aggregates of DiSC₂(3) with emergence of the featured absorption spectra. However, the chiral J-aggregate of DiSC₂(3) can be formed only on the left-handed G4s, while the chiral H-aggregate is otherwise grown only on the right-handed G4s, as confirmed by the induced circular dichroism (ICD) spectra with the characteristic splitting bands. Additionally, these G4s even at tens of nM level are efficient to produce these chiral aggregates, demonstrating the high sensitivity of G4s in creating these optically active dye assemblies. The possible growth sites of the aggregates are proposed by the sequence length-dependent assemblies. Our work will provide a new way to control the chiral assemblies of dye aggregates via the G4 handedness.

Thrombin Ultrasensitive Detection Based on Chiral Supramolecular Assembly Signal-Amplified Strategy Induced by Thrombin-Binding Aptamer

Thrombin plays a critical role in hemostasis and hemolysis. It is of high importance to develop a system toward thrombin detection with high sensitivity and high selectivity for both research and clinical diagnosis applications. In this paper, we developed a thrombin detection assay by taking advantage of the novel signal amplified strategy based on the chiral supramolecular assembly in physiological K⁺ background. This assay could detect thrombin as low concentration as about 2 pM and provided a highly specific selectivity among several common interferences. Furthermore, the assay can discriminate thrombin from other nonspecific analogous proteins with high selectivity and can be used to detect thrombin in diluted real human serum samples, which suggested its great potential for rapid detection of thrombin in the clinic.

Targeting of parallel c-myc G-quadruplex by dimeric cyanine dye supramolecular assembly: dependence on the linker length

The recognizing ability of parallel c-myc G-quadruplex by dimeric cyanine dyes depends on their linker length.