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Colorimetric and visual mercury(II) assay based on target-induced cyclic enzymatic amplification, thymine-Hg(II)-thymine interaction, and aggregation of gold nanoparticles

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Abstract

A colorimetric biosensor and visual test is described for the determination of mercury(II). It relies on the specific thymine-Hg(II)-thymine (T-Hg2+-T) interaction which induces a cyclic amplification process (caused by the enzyme exonuclease III) and the aggregation of gold nanoparticles. These results in a color change from red to violet. Under optimized conditions, this colorimetric assay (best performed at 524 nm) has a detection limit as low as 0.9 nM with a detection range over 4 orders of magnitude (from 1 nM to 10 μM).

Schematic of a colorimetric method for determination of mercury ions (Hg2+) based on the thymine-Hg2+-thymine interaction-triggered cyclic enzymatic amplification and aggregation of gold nanoparticles with the aid of exonuclease III (Exo III).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31471644), the Primary Research & Development Plan of Shandong Province (2017GSF220009). University of Jinan Scientific Research Fund (Youth Project XKY1421) and Doctoral Fundation of University of Jinan (XBS1431).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Water Conservancy and Environment, University of Jinan, Jinan, 250022, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaolei Song & Su Liu

  2. College of Biological Sciences and Technology, University of Jinan, Jinan, 250022, People’s Republic of China

    Yu Wang, Xue Zhang, Haiwang Wang, Jingfeng Wang & Jiadong Huang

  3. Key Laboratory of Chemical Sensing & Analysis in Universities of Shandong, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan, 250022, People’s Republic of China

    Jiadong Huang

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  1. Xiaolei Song
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  2. Yu Wang
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Correspondence to Jiadong Huang.

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Song, X., Wang, Y., Liu, S. et al. Colorimetric and visual mercury(II) assay based on target-induced cyclic enzymatic amplification, thymine-Hg(II)-thymine interaction, and aggregation of gold nanoparticles. Microchim Acta 186, 105 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-018-3193-8

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