Quenching of Fluorophore-Labeled DNA Oligonucleotides by Divalent Metal Ions: Implications for Selection, Design, and Applications of Signaling Aptamers and Signaling Deoxyribozymes

Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the use of fluorescence-signaling DNA aptamers and deoxyribozymes as novel biosensing moieties. Many of these functional single-stranded DNA molecules are either engineered to function in the presence of divalent metal ion cofactors or designed as sensors for specific divalent metal ions. However, many divalent metal ions are potent fluorescence quenchers. In this study, we first set out to examine …