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A label-free method for the detection of specific DNA sequences using gold nanoparticles bifunctionalized with a chemiluminescent reagent and a catalyst as signal reporters

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Abstract

Sensitive, specific, simple, fast, and low-cost DNA detection methods are extremely important in clinical diagnostics, gene therapy, and a variety of biomedical studies. In this work, we developed a general method for the detection of specific DNA sequences from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and myelocytomatosis viral oncogene (v-myc) using gold nanoparticles bifunctionalized with both a chemiluminescent (CL) reagent and a catalytic metal complex as signal reporters and a DNA strand complementary to the target as the capture probe. In this CL method, a biotinylated single-strand DNA capture probe was immobilized in a streptavidin-coated microwell. Upon the addition of the target single-strand DNA, the capture probe hybridized with the target DNA. After adding the bifunctionalized gold nanoparticles and H2O2, a well-defined CL signal was obtained, and the CL intensity was observed to change as the target DNA concentration was increased. It was possible to determine the concentration of the target TB single-strand DNA in the range 1.0 × 10−13–1.0 × 10−8 M with a detection limit of 4.8 × 10−14 M. HBV single-strand DNA and v-myc single-strand DNA could also be determined in the range 1.0 × 10−11–1.0 × 10−8 M with detection limits of 5.9 × 10−12 M and 8.0 × 10−12 M, respectively, using this CL technique. The method reported in this paper is the first label-free CL method for the determination of specific DNA sequences to utilize gold nanoparticles bifunctionalized with both a CL reagent and a catalytic metal complex. The sensitivity of this CL method is superior to those of most previously reported label-free methods. Compared with methods that use polymerase chain reaction amplification, this label-free CL method is much simpler, faster, and more economic. This work has thus demonstrated a simple and fast scanning strategy for the detection of specific DNA sequences related to diseases.

Schematic illustration of label-free CL method for detection of specific DNA sequences

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Acknowledgments

The support of this research by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 21075115 and 21173201) and the Opening Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, CAS (grant no. SKLEAC201408) is gratefully acknowledged.

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All of the authors contrbuted to the writing of the manuscript, and they all approved the final version of the manuscript.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Jinzhai Road 96, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China

      Lingfeng Gao, Xiao He, Li Ju, Xiaoying Liu, Fang Li & Hua Cui

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    1. Lingfeng Gao
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    2. Xiao He
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    3. Li Ju
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    6. Hua Cui
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    Correspondence to Hua Cui.

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    The research was approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Science and Technology China. All volunteers were informed of and agreed with the objectives of the study.

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    The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

    Additional information

    Published in the topical collection Highlights of Analytical Chemical Luminescence with guest editors Aldo Roda, Hua Cui, and Chao Lu.

    Lingfeng Gao and Xiao He contributed equally to this work.

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    Gao, L., He, X., Ju, L. et al. A label-free method for the detection of specific DNA sequences using gold nanoparticles bifunctionalized with a chemiluminescent reagent and a catalyst as signal reporters. Anal Bioanal Chem 408, 8747–8754 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-9244-7

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-9244-7

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