ac050165w_si_004.pdf (111.49 kB)
Aptamer-Based ATP Assay Using a Luminescent Light Switching Complex
journal contribution
posted on 2005-06-01, 00:00 authored by Jun Wang, Yaxin Jiang, Cuisong Zhou, Xiaohong FangWith the increasing applications of nucleic acid aptamers
as a new class of molecular recognition probes in bioanalysis and biosensor development, the development of
general and simple signaling strategies to transduce
aptamer−target binding events to detectable signals is
demanding. We have developed a new signaling method
based on aptamers and a DNA molecular light switching
complex, [Ru(phen)2(dppz)]2+, for sensitive protein detection. In this work, we have demonstrated the applicability of this signaling mechanism to small-molecule
detection using ATP as a model target. Our results have
shown that upon ATP binding to the folded aptamer where
[Ru(phen)2(dppz)]2+ intercalated, the conformational
change or distortion of the aptamer is large enough to
cause a significant luminescence change of [Ru(phen)2(dppz)]2+. By monitoring the ATP-dependent luminescence intensity change, we have achieved ATP detection
with high selectivity and high sensitivity down to 1 nM in
homogeneous solution. The method is very simple without
the needs for covalently labeling aptamers or using costly
enzymes and multistep analysis as other reported fluorescence/luminescence assays for ATP. The successful
detection of ATP indicates that using the signaling aptamers with [Ru(phen)2(dppz)]2+ is expected to be a general
method for aptamer-based target detection.