Issue 22, 2015

Magnetic nanoparticles-cooperated fluorescence sensor for sensitive and accurate detection of DNA methyltransferase activity coupled with exonuclease III-assisted target recycling

Abstract

A fluorescence magnetic biosensor for the DNA methyltransferase activity was developed based on the cooperative amplification by combining the magnetic nanoparticles synergistic exonuclease III (Exo III)-assisted circular exponential amplification and a supramolecular structure ZnPPIX/G-quadruplex. First, a duplex DNA probe, which was constructed by the hybridization of a quadruplex-forming oligomer with a molecular beacon, was assembled on the magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as a reporter. A hairpin probe (HP)-containing sequence of GATC was used as the methylation substrate of DNA adenine methyltransferase (DAM). Once HP was methylated by DAM, it could be recognized and cleaved by Dpn I, which allows the release of a single-stranded DNA. The DNA (tDNA1) then hybridizes to the MNP probe, which then triggers the exonuclease III-mediated target exponential recycling reaction. Simultaneously, numerous quadruplex forming oligomers are liberated and folded into the G-quadruplex-ZnPPIX complexes with the help of zinc(II)-protoporphyrin IX(ZnPPIX) on the MNP surface to give a remarkable fluorescence response. In the developed sensor, a small amount of target DAM can be converted to a large number of stable DNA triggers, leading to remarkable amplification of the target. Moreover, using MNPs as a vector of the sensor may reduce the interference from the real samples, which increases the anti-interference of the sensing system. Based on this unique amplification strategy, a very low detection limit down to 2.0 × 10−4 U mL−1 was obtained. Furthermore, the sensor could be used to evaluate the DAM activity in different growth stages of E. coli cells and screen Dam MTase inhibitors. Therefore, the strategy proposed here provides a promising platform for monitoring the activity and inhibition of DNA MTases and has great potential to be applied further in early clinical diagnostics and medical research.

Graphical abstract: Magnetic nanoparticles-cooperated fluorescence sensor for sensitive and accurate detection of DNA methyltransferase activity coupled with exonuclease III-assisted target recycling

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Jul 2015
Accepted
13 Sep 2015
First published
15 Sep 2015

Analyst, 2015,140, 7637-7644

Magnetic nanoparticles-cooperated fluorescence sensor for sensitive and accurate detection of DNA methyltransferase activity coupled with exonuclease III-assisted target recycling

Q. Xue, Y. Zhang, S. Xu, H. Li, L. Wang, R. Li, Y. Zhang, Q. Yue, X. Gu, S. Zhang, J. Liu and H. Wang, Analyst, 2015, 140, 7637 DOI: 10.1039/C5AN01546D

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