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A facile label-free aptasensor for detecting ATP based on fluorescence enhancement of poly(thymine)-templated copper nanoparticles

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Abstract

A label-free fluorescence assay has been developed for sensitive and selective detection of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by using poly(thymine) (poly T)-templated copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) as fluorescent indicator. In our design, ATP aptamer was split into two fragments, both of which were elongated with poly T strands that can be utilized as efficient template for the formation of copper nanoparticles through the reduction of copper ions by sodium ascorbate. In the presence of ATP, the two split aptamers could be dragged to form aptamer-ATP aptamer complex, which drew the poly T strands close to each other and induced a remarkable fluorescence enhancement of poly T-templated CuNPs. Thus, an elevated fluorescence enhancement of poly T-templated CuNPs was obtained with the increase in ATP concentration. Under optimized conditions, a good linear range for ATP detection was realized from 100 nM to 100 μM with a detection limit of 10.29 nM. In addition, the application of this biosensing system in complex biological matrix was demonstrated with satisfactory results. This assay provided a simple, label-free, cost-effective, and sensitive platform for the detection of ATP.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21205108, 21505122). The authors are very grateful to Professor Yongjun Wu (Zhengzhou University) for providing A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Zhengzhou University, No. 100 Science Road, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, China

    Sai-Sai Zhou, Lin Zhang, Qi-Yong Cai, Zhen-Zhen Dong, Xin Geng, Jia Ge & Zhao-Hui Li

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  1. Sai-Sai Zhou
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  2. Lin Zhang
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  3. Qi-Yong Cai
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  4. Zhen-Zhen Dong
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  5. Xin Geng
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  6. Jia Ge
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  7. Zhao-Hui Li
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jia Ge or Zhao-Hui Li.

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All experimental procedures were performed according to the Guideline for Experimentation of Zhengzhou University, and the protocol was reviewed and approved by the ethics committee of the institution.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Zhou, SS., Zhang, L., Cai, QY. et al. A facile label-free aptasensor for detecting ATP based on fluorescence enhancement of poly(thymine)-templated copper nanoparticles. Anal Bioanal Chem 408, 6711–6717 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9788-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9788-1

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