Biostable L-DNA-Templated Aptamer-Silver Nanoclusters for Cell-Type-Specific Imaging at Physiological Temperature

The high susceptibility of the natural D-conformation of DNA (D-DNA) to nucleases greatly limits the application of DNA-templated silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs) in biological matrixes. Here we demonstrate that the L-conformation of DNA (L-DNA), the enantiomer of D-DNA, can also be used for the preparation of aptamer-Ag NCs. The extraordinary resistance of L-DNA to nuclease digestion confers much higher biostability to these NCs than those templated by D-DNA, thus making cell-type-specific imaging possible at physiological temperatures, using at least 100-times lower Ag NC concentration than reported D-DNA-templated ones. The L-DNA-templated metal NC probes with enhanced biostability might promote the applications of metal nanocluster probes in complex biological systems.