Rapid screening of active compounds plays a crucial role in the research and application of complex natural medicines. Herein, a new method of simultaneous label-free multi-drug screening based on a selective aptamer-carboxyfluorescein/graphene oxide energy transfer optical sensor combined with microfluidic chip electrophoretic separation is reported. In this study, seven traditional Chinese medicinal monomers were chosen as targets for the screening of G-quadruplex ligands. The screening results of the G-quadruplex active ligands, including daidzein, berberine hydrochloride, jatrorrhizine hydrochloride, and fangchinoline, and non-active ligands, including geniposide and oxymatrine, were consistent with those reported in literature. Moreover, one new potential G4DNA active drug, jujuboside A, was identified. Molecular simulation of the interaction between G4DNA and drugs was also carried out using HyperChem and AutoDock to verify the results of the experimental screening. It further demonstrated the reliability of our strategy. This novel separation and concentration based multi-sensing strategy provides a simple, rapid, and sensitive tool for simultaneous multi-drug screening, which is very meaningful for drug screening and bio-interaction analysis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.