Metal‐Enhanced Fluorescence: Application to High‐Throughput Screening and Drug Discovery

Metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) appears to be most suitable to the fluorescence assays used in drug discovery and DNA analysis. The metal–fluorophore effects offer unique perspectives in fluorescence sensing, providing for improved background suppression, increased detection limits, and localized excitation near to silver nanostructures. This article describes the effects of different silver nanostructures on the emission intensity and photostability of fluorophores and the use of MEF in high-throughput screening and drug discovery. Keywords: metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF); metal–fluorophore effects; fluorophores; photostability; silver nanostructures