Browsing by Author "Wang, Zhen"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Adsorption of DNA Oligonucleotides by Self-Assembled Metalloporphyrin Nanomaterials
    (American Chemical Society, 2022-03-08) Wang, Jinghan; Wang, Zhen; Huang, Po-Jung Jimmy; Bai, Feng; Liu, Juewen
    Porphyrin assemblies have controllable morphology, high biocompatibility, and good optical properties and were widely used in biomedical diagnosis and treatment. With the development of DNA biotechnology, combining DNA with porphyrin assemblies can broaden the biological applications of porphyrins. Porphyrin assemblies can serve as nanocarriers for DNA, although the fundamental interactions between them are not well understood. In this work, zinc meso-tetra(4-pyridyl)porphyrin (ZnTPyP) assemblies were prepared in the presence of various surfactants and at different pH values, yielding a variety of aggregation forms. Among them, the hexagonal stacking form exposes more pyridine substituents, and the hydrogen bonding force between the substituents and the DNA bases allows the DNA to be quickly adsorbed on the surface of the assemblies. The effects of DNA sequence and length were systematically tested. In particular, the adsorption of duplex DNA was less efficient compared to the adsorption of single-stranded DNA. This fundamental study is useful for the further combination of DNA and porphyrin assemblies to prepare new functional hybrid nanomaterials.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    DNA coated CoZn-ZIF metal-organic frameworks for fluorescent sensing guanosine triphosphate and discrimination of nucleoside triphosphates
    (Elsevier, 2022-05-15) Wang, Zhen; Zhou, Xumei; Han, Jing; Xie, Gang; Liu, Juewen
    Imidazole-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are easy to prepare as well-dispersed nanoparticles, which have attracted a lot of interest in sensing. Metal substitution is an effective way to regulate the composition and performance of MOFs. Herein, by tuning the contents of Co and Zn, a series of homobimetallic CoxZn100-x-ZIF (x = 0–100) were synthesized. Using a fluorescently-labeled DNA oligonucleotide probe, guanosine triphosphate (GTP) can readily displace the adsorbed DNA from Co50Zn50-ZIF, resulting in over 30-fold fluorescence enhancement with 1 mM GTP. Co80Zn20-ZIF could specifically recognize adenosine triphosphate (ATP), whereas Co65Zn35-ZIF and Co20Zn80-ZIF responded to both ATP and GTP. For comparison, Co50Ni50-ZIF and Co50Cu50-ZIF were also prepared, but none of them were selective for any of the molecules, indicating a synergetic effect of cobalt and zinc in Co50Zn50-ZIF for the selective recognition of GTP. This system can sensitively detect GTP with a detection limit of 0.13 μM. Moreover, based on the varying binding affinities of these CoZn-ZIFs towards different nucleoside triphosphates (NTPs), a ZIF fluorescent sensor array was also designed for the discrimination of the four types of NTPs.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Nanomaterials for molecular recognition: specific adsorption and regulation of nanozyme activities
    (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2023-05-02) Wang, Zhen; Li, Man; Bu, Huaiyu; Zia, David S.; Dai, Penggao; Liu, Juewen
    Biosensors use biomolecules to recognize target analytes and many biosensors employ nanomaterials for signal transduction. In this review, a reverse design strategy is described. These sensors rely only on nanomaterials for target recognition; and in some sensors, biomolecules are employed for signal transduction. The first type relies on fluorescent nanomaterials and the specific binding of target analytes which can lead to a fluorescence change in nanomaterials. The second type is based on the regulation of the catalytic activity of nanozymes. The third type relies on an additional signal transduction molecule, such as a DNA oligonucleotide, adsorbed on the surface of nanomaterials. In this case, biomolecules are only used for signal transduction but do not play a role in target recognition. In the end, we also discuss some challenges associated with such designs including limited selectivity and susceptibility to interference. Future research opportunities include further mechanistic studies, the development of new ways to boost selectivity, and testing real samples.