DNA-Protected Silver Nanoclusters: Synthesis and Biological Applications

Fluorescent silver nanoclusters are finding ever-expanding roles as probes and biolabels due to their extraordinary physical and chemical characteristics, including facile synthesis, good quantum yields, high photostability, tunable fluorescence emission, and good biocompatibility. Great efforts have been devoted to the exploration of creating DNA templated silver nanoclusters (DNA-AgNCs) in recent years. Here we focus on the recent advances in the synthesis of DNA-AgNCs, and explore the connection between the chemical/photophysical properties of DNA-AgNCs and the sequence, length, and secondary structure of DNA scaffolds. After that, some successful examples of using DNA-AgNCs in biological detection and imaging will be presented. We expect that the rapidly growing interest in metal nanocluster-based biomedical applications will certainly not only stimulate research in this highly active field, but also inspire broader concerns across various disciplines.