DNA/RNA Detection Using DNA-Templated Few-Atom Silver Nanoclusters

Judy M Obliosca; Cong Liu; Robert Austin Batson; Mark C Babin; James H Werner; Hsin-Chih Yeh

doi:10.3390/bios3020185

DNA/RNA Detection Using DNA-Templated Few-Atom Silver Nanoclusters

Biosensors (Basel). 2013 Apr 23;3(2):185-200. doi: 10.3390/bios3020185.

Authors

Judy M Obliosca¹, Cong Liu², Robert Austin Batson³, Mark C Babin⁴, James H Werner⁵, Hsin-Chih Yeh⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. jmobliosca@utexas.edu.
² Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. cong.liu@utexas.edu.
³ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. abatson@utexas.edu.
⁴ College of Natural Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. markcbabin@gmail.com.
⁵ Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 78745, USA. jwerner@lanl.gov.
⁶ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. tim.yeh@austin.utexas.edu.

Abstract

DNA-templated few-atom silver nanoclusters (DNA/Ag NCs) are a new class of organic/inorganic composite nanomaterials whose fluorescence emission can be tuned throughout the visible and near-IR range by simply programming the template sequences. Compared to organic dyes, DNA/Ag NCs can be brighter and more photostable. Compared to quantum dots, DNA/Ag NCs are smaller, less prone to blinking on long timescales, and do not have a toxic core. The preparation of DNA/Ag NCs is simple and there is no need to remove excess precursors as these precursors are non-fluorescent. Our recent discovery of the fluorogenic and color switching properties of DNA/Ag NCs have led to the invention of new molecular probes, termed NanoCluster Beacons (NCBs), for DNA detection, with the capability to differentiate single-nucleotide polymorphisms by emission colors. NCBs are inexpensive, easy to prepare, and compatible with commercial DNA synthesizers. Many other groups have also explored and taken advantage of the environment sensitivities of DNA/Ag NCs in creating new tools for DNA/RNA detection and single-nucleotide polymorphism identification. In this review, we summarize the recent trends in the use of DNA/Ag NCs for developing DNA/RNA sensors.

Publication types

Review