Sequence-dependent quenching of fluorescein fluorescence on single-stranded and double-stranded DNA

Fluorescein is commonly used to label macromolecules, particularly proteins and nucleic acids, but its fluorescence is known to be strongly dependent on its direct chemical environment. In the case of fluorescein-labeled nucleic acids, nucleobase-specific quenching originating in photoinduced charge transfer interactions results in sequence-dependent chemical environments. The resulting sequence specificity of fluorescent intensities can be used as a proximity detection tool, but can also lead to biases when the abundance of labeled nucleic acids is quantified by fluorescence intensity. Here we comprehensively survey how DNA sequences affect fluorescence intensity by preparing permutational libraries containing all possible 5mer contexts of both single-stranded and double-stranded DNA 3′ or 5′ end labeled with fluorescein (6-carboxyfluorescein, FAM). We observe the expected large quenching of fluorescence with guanine proximity but also find more complex fluorescence intensity changes depending on sequence contexts involving proximity to all four nucleobases. A terminal T (T > A ≈ C ≫ G) in both 3′ and 5′ labeled single strands results in the strongest fluorescence signal and it changes to a terminal C (C ≫ T > A ≫ G) in double-stranded DNA. Therefore, in dsDNA, the terminal G·C base pair largely controls the intensity of fluorescence emission depending on which of these two nucleotides the dye is attached to. Our data confirms the importance of guanine in fluorescence quenching while pointing towards an additional mechanism beyond the redox potential of DNA bases in modulating fluorescein intensity in both single and double stranded DNA. This study should help in designing better nucleic acid probes that can take sequence-dependent quenching effects into account.