Ultrasensitive recognition of AP sites in DNA at the single-cell level: one molecular rotor sequentially self-regulated to form multiple different stable conformations.

ABSTRACT: The AP site is a primary form of DNA damage. Its presence alters the genetic structure and eventually causes malignant diseases. AP sites generally present a high-speed dynamic change in the DNA sequence. Thus, precisely recognizing AP sites is difficult, especially at the single-cell level. To address this issue, we provide a broad-spectrum strategy to design a group of molecular rotors, that is, a series of nonfluorescent 2-(4-vinylbenzylidene)malononitrile derivatives (BMN-Fluors), which constantly display molecular rotation in a free state. Interestingly, after activating the relevant specific-recognition reaction (i.e., hydrolysis reaction of benzylidenemalononitrile) only in the AP-site cavity within a short time (approximately 300 s), each of these molecules can be fix

SUBMITTER: Feng B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6988597 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature