DNA-templated copper nanocluster: A robust and universal fluorescence switch for bleomycin assay

Bleomycin (BLM) is widely utilized for cancer treatment due to the outstanding antitumor activity, but BLM with imprecisely controlled dosage may lead to lethal consequences. It is thus a profound task to accurately monitor the BLM levels in clinical settings. Herein, we propose a straightforward, convenient, and sensitive sensing method for BLM assay. Poly-T DNA-templated copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) are fabricated with strong fluorescence emission and uniform size distribution and served as fluorescence indicators for BLM. The high binding affinity of BLM for Cu2+makes it able to inhibit fluorescence signals generated from CuNCs. This is the underlying mechanism rarely explored and can be utilized for effective BLM detection. A detection limit of 0.27 μM (according to 3σ/s rule) is achieved in this work. And the precision, producibility, and practical useability are also confirmed with satisfactory results. Furthermore, the accuracy of the method is verified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). To sum up, the established strategy in this work exhibits the advantages of convenience, rapidness, low cost, and high precision. The construction of BLM biosensors is important to achieve the best therapeutic effect with minimal toxicity, which opens a new avenue for monitoring antitumor drugs in clinical settings. •A straightforward and convenient scheme is proposed for the detection of bleomycin via the use of copper nanoclusters.•The assay is simple and rapid and can be conducted in a mix-and-measure within a short time.•The method exhibits a good sensitivity, selectivity, and applicability in artificial serum samples.•The good accuracy was also confirmed by the HPLC method.