MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of endogenous noncoding
RNAs with
the functions of gene regulation, which serve as promising markers
for a range of diseases such as diabetic foot ulcers, cancers, etc.
In this work, we engineered a roll-to-roll DNA nanomachine for highly
sensitive electrochemical detection of miRNA. A dumbbell-structured
DNA probe could be transitioned to be wheel-structured conformation
upon target recognition, which rolls around track strands on the surface
of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the presence of nicking endonuclease.
The resulting single strands on AuNPs are activated for the second
round of rolling at the DNA-modified electrode interface, leading
to the variation of electrochemical responses. The roll-to-roll amplification
behavior allows a wide detection range with a limit of detection as
low as 10 aM. The practicability is also demonstrated by the application
in human serum samples with satisfactory results. It is expected that
the proposed electrochemical method offers a new paradigm to develop
miRNA assays based on DNA nanotechnology.
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