The development of rapid and simple approaches for detecting G-quadruplex DNA structures have attracted considerable attentions for their diverse physiological and pathological functions. In this study, a novel triphenylamine quinoline derivative modified with aza-crown ether (TPAQD-ACE) as G4s DNA probe was synthesized and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. To improve the selectivity property of TPAQD-ACE to G4s DNA, triphenylamine quinoline aza-crown ether complexes with different metal ions (Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Fe³⁺) named TPAQD-M-ACE were synthesized as probes. Selectivity and binding properties of TPAQD-ACE and TPAQD-M-ACE interacting with G4 DNAs were studied. TPAQD-Ni-ACE and TPAQD-Fe-ACE which gave signals at around 640 nm in the neutral buffer solution exhibited excellent fluorescent selectivity characteristics, which could not only distinguish G4 DNAs from single-stranded and double-stranded DNAs efficiently, but also could specifically recognize C-myc and Hum45 respectively. The binding characteristics of fluorescent probes to G4 DNA were also described in detail by molecular docking. These results indicated that the introduction of metal ion could great increase the fluorescent signal intensity of TPAQD-ACE and promote the binding abilities of TPAQD-M-ACEs to G4 DNAs. Herein, the cellular applications of TPAQD-M-ACE probes in cancer cells were also demonstrated.

快速和简单的方法来检测G四联体DNA结构的发展已经引起了广泛的关注，因为它们具有多种生理和病理功能。本研究合成了以氮杂冠醚（TPAQD-ACE）为G4s DNA探针修饰的新型三苯胺喹啉衍生物，并通过核磁共振和质谱法对其进行了表征。为了提高TPAQD-ACE对G4s DNA的选择性，使用了具有不同金属离子（Ni 2 ⁺，Co 2 ⁺，Cu 2 ⁺，Zn 2 ⁺，Fe ^3+）的三苯胺喹啉氮杂-冠醚配合物合成名为TPAQD-M-ACE的探针。研究了TPAQD-ACE和TPAQD-M-ACE与G4 DNA相互作用的选择性和结合特性。在中性缓冲液中发出约640 nm信号的TPAQD-Ni-ACE和TPAQD-Fe-ACE具有出色的荧光选择性，不仅可以有效区分G4 DNA与单链和双链DNA，而且还可以分别识别C-myc和Hum45。还通过分子对接详细描述了荧光探针与G4 DNA的结合特性。这些结果表明，金属离子的引入可以大大增加TPAQD-ACE的荧光信号强度，并促进TPAQD-M-ACE与G4 DNA的结合能力。在这里