Fluorescent Aptaswitch for Detection of Lead Ions

Johnsi Mathivanan; Hehua Liu; Jianhua Gan; Arun Richard Chandrasekaran; Jia Sheng

doi:10.1021/acsabm.2c00368

Fluorescent Aptaswitch for Detection of Lead Ions

ACS Appl Bio Mater. 2022 Nov 21;5(11):5089-5093. doi: 10.1021/acsabm.2c00368. Epub 2022 Jun 2.

Authors

Johnsi Mathivanan^{1

2}, Hehua Liu³, Jianhua Gan³, Arun Richard Chandrasekaran², Jia Sheng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York 12222, United States.
² The RNA Institute, University of Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York 12222, United States.
³ Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, P. R. China.

PMID: 35652916
DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.2c00368

Abstract

Detection of metal ions has essential roles in biology, food industry, and environmental sciences. In this work, we developed a Pb²⁺ detection strategy based on a fluorophore-tagged Pb²⁺-binding aptamer. The DNA aptamer changes its conformation on binding Pb²⁺, switching from an "off" state (low fluorescence) to an "on" state (high fluorescence). This method provides a quantitative readout with a detection limit of 468 nM, is highly specific to Pb²⁺ when tested against other metal ions, and is functional in complex biofluids. Such metal sensing DNA aptamers could be coupled with other biomolecules for sense-and-actuate mechanisms in biomedical and environmental applications.

Keywords: DNA switches; aptamers; biosensing; heavy metals; lead detection; metal sensing.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Aptamers, Nucleotide* / chemistry
Fluorescence
Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry
Ions
Lead*

Substances

Lead
Aptamers, Nucleotide
Ions
Fluorescent Dyes