I-Motif/miniduplex hybrid structures bind benzothiazole dyes with unprecedented efficiencies: a generic light-up system for label-free DNA nanoassemblies and bioimaging.

ABSTRACT: I-motif DNAs have been widely employed as robust modulating components to construct reconfigurable DNA nanodevices that function well in acidic cellular environments. However, they generally display poor interactivity with fluorescent ligands under these complex conditions, illustrating a major difficulty in utilizing i-motifs as the light-up system for label-free DNA nanoassemblies and bioimaging. Towards addressing this challenge, here we devise new types of i-motif/miniduplex hybrid structures that display an unprecedentedly high interactivity with commonly-used benzothiazole dyes (e.g. thioflavin T). A well-chosen tetranucleotide, whose optimal sequence depends on the used ligand, is appended to the 5'-terminals of diverse i-motifs and forms a minimal parallel duplex thereby creating a

SUBMITTER: Shi L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7039006 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature