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A tetrahedral DNA nanoflare for fluorometric determination of nucleic acids and imaging of microRNA using toehold strands

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Abstract

The authors describe a tetrahedral DNA nanostructure loaded with SYBR Green (SG-TDN) for fluorometric determination of nucleic acids. After intercalating into the TDN, fluorescence of SG is enhanced by 260-fold (exc 480 nm, em 524 nm), and the resulting SG-TDN nanoflare displays >7-fold stronger fluorescence than that of FAM-labeled TDN. The SG-TDNs were coupled to magnetic microparticles and polydopamine nanoparticles to construct multi-functional nanoprobes through sequence hybridization using a toehold strand. The method was applied to detect a stretch of microRNA sequence (20 bp) in buffer and in undiluted serum with excellent selectivity, over a wide linear range and with a low limit of detection (0.2 nM). The probe was also applied for visualization of tumor-related microRNA in living cells via fluorescence imaging.

Schematic representation of tetrahedron-based DNA nanoflare for fluorometric nucleic acid determination in undiluted blood serum and living cells.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Innovation-Driven Project of Central South University (No. 20170030010004), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21804144), Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Hunan Oriented Fundamental and Applied Research in Innovative Pharmaceutics (No. 2016TP1029).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China

    Liang Li, Yingcai Meng, Shengfeng Wang, Jinsong Ding & Wenhu Zhou

  2. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China

    Ling Li

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  1. Liang Li
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  2. Yingcai Meng
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  3. Ling Li
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Correspondence to Jinsong Ding or Wenhu Zhou.

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Li, L., Meng, Y., Li, L. et al. A tetrahedral DNA nanoflare for fluorometric determination of nucleic acids and imaging of microRNA using toehold strands. Microchim Acta 186, 824 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-019-3931-6

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