The role of spacer sequence in modulating turn-on fluorescence of DNA-templated silver nanoclusters

Guanine activation of fluorescence in DNA templated silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) is an interesting physical phenomenon which has yet to be fully understood to date. While the individual role of cytosine and guanine has been established, there is still a knowledge gap on how the AgNC-DNA system switches from dark to bright state. Here, we present evidence on the universal role of the DNA spacer sequence in physically separating two Ag+-binding cytosine sites to maintain the dark state while holding them together for structural re-organization by the guanine-rich strand to activate the bright state. The extent of turn-on signal could be modulated by adjusting the spacer length and composition. The ATATA spacer sequence was found to have negligible dark state fluorescence and a turn-on effect of 2440-fold, which was almost five times of the highest factor reported to date.