Construction of metal-organic framework-nucleic acid composites and their application in fluorescent biomedical sensing

Abstract

<p indent="0mm"><b/>Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of porous materials composed of inorganic metal nodes and organic ligands, and are widely used in biomedical, biosensing fields due to their adjustable structure and function, large specific surface area, and diverse sites. Furthermore, much progress has been made in nucleic acid molecules used for target recognition and molecular detection in recent years due to their unique molecular recognition and flexible editability. Therefore, the integration of MOFs and nucleic acids has considerably expanded the functions and applications of both monomers, and has become a hot research topic in chemistry, biology, and medicine. This review covers current advancements in the construction of nucleic acid-functionalized MOF composites and their applications in fluorescent biological fields. Firstly, different functionalization methods of nucleic acid molecules on the surface of MOFs are introduced to provide a basis for the construction of nucleic acid-functionalized MOFs biosensors. Secondly, according to the varied functions performed by MOFs, the applications of MOF-nucleic acid composites in fluorescent biomedical sensing are defined and outlined as fluorescence quenching MOFs, luminous MOFs, and stimulus responsive MOFs, respectively. Finally, the current limitations of MOF-nucleic acid composites in biosensing applications as well as their future development in this field are discussed.