Development of an Aptamer-Based Sensing Platform for Metal Ions, Proteins, and Small Molecules through Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase Induced G‑Quadruplex Formation Ka-Ho Leung Bingyong He Chao Yang Chung-Hang Leung Hui-Min David Wang Dik-Lung Ma 10.1021/acsami.5b08314.s001 https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Development_of_an_Aptamer_Based_Sensing_Platform_for_Metal_Ions_Proteins_and_Small_Molecules_through_Terminal_Deoxynucleotidyl_Transferase_Induced_G_Quadruplex_Formation/2113462 We report a label-free, structure-independent luminescent-sensing platform for metal ions, proteins, and small molecules utilizing an Ir­(III) complex, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT), and a structure-folding aptamer. A novel G-quadruplex-selective Ir­(III) complex was identified to detect the nascent G-quadruplex motifs with an enhanced luminescence response. Unlike most label-free DNA-based assays reported in the literature, this sensing platform does not require a specific secondary structure of aptamer, thus greatly simplifying DNA design. The detection platform was demonstrated by the detection of K<sup>+</sup> ions, thrombin, and cocaine as representative examples of metal ions, proteins, and small molecules. 2015-11-04 00:00:00 terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase protein platform metal ions DNA molecule detection Ir aptamer