In this work, unmodified carbon nanodots are demonstrated as novel and environmentally-friendly fluorescence probes for the sensing of Hg(2+) and biothiols with high sensitivity and selectivity.

A synergistic graphene oxide-gold nanocluster (GO-AuNC) hybrid has been constructed as an enzyme mimic that is able to show high catalytic activity over a broad pH range, especially at neutral pH. Importantly, the target-functionalized hybrid has been applied as a robust nanoprobe for selective, quantitative, and fast colorimetric detection of cancer cells.

A novel proton-fueled molecular gate-like delivery system has been constructed for controlled cargo release using i-motif quadruplex DNA as caps onto pore outlets of mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Start from simple conformation changes, the i-motif DNA cap can open and close the pore system in smart response to pH stimulus. Importantly, the opening/closing and delivery protocol is highly reversible and a partial cargo delivery can be easily controlled at will. A pH-switchable nanoreactor has also been developed to validate the potential of our system for on-demand molecular transport. This proof of concept might open the door to a new generation of carrier materials and could also provide a general route to use other functional nucleic acids/peptide nucleic acids as capping agents in the fields of versatile controlled delivery nanodevices.

We demonstrate a novel concept for the construction of a label-free, quadruplex-based functional molecular beacon (LFG4-MB) by using G-quadruplex motif as a substitute for Watson-Crick base pairing in the MB stem and a specific G-quadruplex binder, N-methyl mesoporphyrin IX (NMM) as a reporter. It shows high sensitivity in assays for UDG activity/inhibition and detection of DNA sequence based on the unique fluorescence increase that occurs as a result of the strong interaction between NMM and the folded quadruplex upon removal of uracil by UDG or displacement of block sequence by target DNA. The LFG4-MB is simple in design, fast in operation and could be easily transposed to other biological relevant target analysis by simply changing the recognition portion. The LFG4-MB does not require any chemical modification for DNA, which offers the advantages of simplicity and cost efficiency and obviates the possible interference with the affinity and specificity of the MB as well as the kinetic behavior of the catalysts caused by the bulky fluorescent groups. More importantly, the LFG4-MB offers great extent of freedom to tune the experimental conditions for the general applicability in bioanalysis.

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A new type of rapid, highly sensitive, and selective fluorescence turn-on assay for detection of cysteine and histidine using a DNA/ligand/ion ensemble is developed. This assay is based on the highly specific interaction between the amino acids and the metal ions and the strong fluorescence thiazole orange (TO)/DNA probe in a competition assay format. The resulting high sensitivity and selectivity for cysteine and histidine was achieved by changing the metal ions. The system is simple in design and fast in operation and is more convenient and promising than other methods. The novel strategy eliminated the need of organic cosolvents, enzymatic reactions, separation processes, chemical modifications, and sophisticated instrumentations. The detection and discrimination process can be seen with the naked eye under a hand-held UV lamp and can be easily adapted to automated high-throughput screening. The detection limit of this method is lower than or at least comparable to previous fluorescence-based methods. The dynamic range of the sensor can be tuned simply by adjusting the concentration of metal ions. Importantly, the protocol offers high selectivity for the determination of cysteine among amino acids found in proteins and in serum samples. The assay shows great potential for practical application as a disease-associated biomarker and will be needed to satisfy the great demand of amino acid determination in fields such as food processing, biochemistry, pharmaceuticals, and clinical analysis.