AIEgens/Nucleic Acid Nanostructures for Bioanalytical Applications

Abstract

DNA occupies significant roles in life processes, which include encoding the sequences of proteins and accurately transferring genetic information from generation to generation. Recent discoveries have demonstrated that a variety of biological functions are correlated with DNA′s conformational transitions. The non‐B form has attained great attention among the diverse forms of DNA over the past several years. The main reason for this is that a large number of studies have shown that the non‐B form of DNA is associated with gross deletions, inversions, duplications, translocations as well as simple repeating sequences, which therefore causes human diseases. Consequently, the conformational transition of DNA between the B‐form and the non‐B form is important for biology. Conventional fluorescence probes based on the conformational transitions of DNA usually need a fluorophore and a quencher group, which suffers from the complex design of the structure and tedious synthetic procedures. Moreover, conventional fluorescence probes are subject to the aggregation‐caused quenching (ACQ) effect, which limits their application toward imaging and analyte detection. Fluorogens exhibiting aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) have attracted tremendous attention over the past decade. By taking advantage of this unique behavior, plenty of fluorescent switch‐on probes without the incorporation of fluorescent quenchers/fluorophore pairs have been widely developed as biosensors for imaging a variety of analytes. Herein, the recent progress in bioanalytical applications on the basis of aggregation‐induced emission luminogens (AIEgens)/nucleic acid nanostructures are presented and discussed.

Sparks fly when AIE meets with polymers

“…[15][16][17][18][19][20] AIE luminogens (AIEgens) display weak or negligible photoluminescence (PL) in dilute solutions but emit strongly in the aggregate or solid state. [21][22][23][24][25][26] The isolated, propeller-like AIEgens can dissipate the excited-state energy through active intramolecular motions in solution. When these motions are restricted in aggregates, intense fluorescence was obtained ( Fig.…”

Molecular Motion in the Solid State

“…Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is a cutting-edge fluorescence technology and has received intense attention in recent years. − AIE describes a general phenomenon of some molecules are nonluminescent in the solution state due to active molecular motion, but they emit intensely when aggregated because of the restriction of intramolecular motions (RIM). The mechanism of AIE is illustrated in Scheme using a prototypical AIE luminogen (AIEgen) tetraphenylethene (TPE) as example .…”

Colorimetric sensing of acidic vapour through protonation of a Meisenheimer complex

“…Stimuli‐responsive and smart materials have always been at the forefront of various material science applications 1‐17 . Among these stimuli‐responsive materials, fluorescent materials have been used as smart functional materials in multidisciplinary areas, including chemosensor and biosensor design, 18‐22 biomedical applications, 23,24 imaging processes, 25,26 light‐emitting diode device fabrication 27,28 and the tagging of biomolecules 29‐31 and photoswitches 32,33 . In the category of fluorescent sensors, Meisenheimer complexes have recently attracted considerable attention.…”