Rapid determination of enantiomeric ratio using fluorescent DNA or RNA aptamers

Abstract

The natural chirality of DNA and RNA aptamers has been used to develop fluorescent agents to determine the enantiomeric ratio of adenosine and arginine, respectively. The quantification is based on structure-switching DNA or RNA aptamers labeled with fluorophore and quencher, allowing chiral detection down to 0.1 : 99.9 (L : D) for arginine after calibration. Such a method provides a general platform for simple, low-cost and high throughput detection and quantification of chirality of a broad range of molecules.