DNA-regulated structural engineering of metal nanomaterials: A strategy for advanced optical biosensing

The development of highly sensitive optical biosensors has emerged as a focal point in chemical research, exerting a profound influence on numerous fields related to the national economy and public welfare. Owing to their dual nanostructural and metallic properties, metal nanomaterials exhibit certain distinctive optical properties. Among them, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and fluorescence emission are particularly prominent. Therefore, metal nanomaterials possess significant potential to enhance the analytical performance of optical biosensors. Compared to peptides and proteins, DNA demonstrates remarkable superiority in terms of the diversity of length, sequence, backbone structure, and modification groups. Integrating DNA with metal nanomaterials provides a prerequisite for accurately identifying targets and precisely regulating metal nanomaterials. Effectively combining the superior properties of DNA and metal nanomaterials represents a critical scientific challenge in facilitating the development of highly sensitive optical analytical approaches. Exploring novel strategies to regulate the optical properties of metal nanomaterials can provide more opportunities for developing high-performance optical biosensors. In this review, the regulation modes of DNA with metal nanomaterials can be summarized into three parts i.e.: the morphological evolution of DNA-guided metal nanomaterials, the assembly of DNA with metal nanomaterials, and the formation of DNA-templated metal nanomaterials. For each part, typical applications have been displayed based on regulating the optical properties of metal nanomaterials via DNA. Furthermore, perspectives and challenges are also discussed at the end of the review.