Nanopore single-molecule dielectrophoretic detection of cancer-derived microRNA biomarkers

The nanopore-based single-molecule biosensor has been extensively investigated for various biomedical detections. It has demonstrated the potential in gene sequencing and diagnosis-oriented biomarker detection such as microRNAs. In real-time detection, however, samples extracted from bio-fluids contain various non-target nucleic acids components. These components can cause severely influence the target detection accuracy. We have discovered that a polycationic probe can solve this issue. The polycationic peptide domain of the probe can separate the target probe complex from free nucleic acids, and only lead the complex into the pore, therefore realizing simultaneous enrichment and detection of target microRNAs. This study establishs a universal approach to detecting any short pathogenic nucleic acids fragment in complex samples.