Human telomeric G-quadruplex formation and highly selective fluorescence detection of toxic strontium ions

Strontium ions play important roles in biological systems. The inhalation of strontium can cause severe respiratory difficulties, anaphylactic reaction and extreme tachycardia. Strontium can replace calcium in organisms, inhibit normal calcium absorption and induce strontium "rickets" in childhood. Thus, the development of sensitive and selective methods for the determination of trace amounts of Sr(2+) in aqueous media is of considerable importance for environmental and human health protection. A number of methodologies, such as X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry, inductively coupled argon plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and instrumental thermal neutron activation analysis, have been reported. However, these methods are somewhat complex, costly, time consuming and, especially, need special instruments. Thus, the design of convenient and inexpensive approaches for the sensitive and selective detection of Sr(2+) with rapid, easy manipulation is in ever-increasing demand. To the best of our knowledge, using DNA conformational change to detect Sr(2+) has not yet been reported. Herein we utilized thiazole orange (TO) as a signal reporter to devise a simple Sr(2+) detection assay based on Sr(2+) induced human telomeric DNA conformational change in the presence of SWNTs. The limit of detection is 10 nM Sr(2+) (0.87 μg L(-1)), far below 4 mg L(-1), the U.S. Federal threshold in drinking water defined by the U.S. EPA.