Metal-enhanced intrinsic fluorescence of nucleic acids using platinum nanostructured substrates

We investigated the feasibility of using platinum nanostructures to accomplish the metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) in the UV spectral region. We examine the possibility for detection of the intrinsic fluorescence from nucleotides and G-quadruplex DNA on platinum nanoparticles. Guanosine monophosphate (GMP) showed significant increases (similar to 20-fold) in fluorescence intensities in the presence of platinum nanostructures when compared to quartz controls. G-quadruplex DNA demonstrated similar to 5-fold increase in fluorescence intensity and higher photostability in the presence of Pt nanostructures. We performed Finite Element Method simulations to explore how Pt nanoparticles interact with plane waves and conformed that the Pt nanostructures are promising for enhancing the fluorescence emission in the UV region. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.