Intelligent DNA machine for the ultrasensitive colorimetric detection of nucleic acids

As DNA is employed to serve as a smart building block, an increasing interest has been devoted to the development of different DNA-based machines for the specific purpose, for example, the exploration of inter- or intramolecular interaction. In the current contribution, we developed an intelligent DNA machine and its operation can be designed to execute the ultrasensitive colorimetric detection of target nucleic acids. The DNA machine consists of a hairpin probe (HP) and an assistant template (AT). Using p53 gene as the target model to trigger the molecular machine operation, cyclic nucleic acid strand displacement polymerization (CNDP) was specifically induced, leading to the DNAzyme mediated catalytic reaction for signal readout. Specifically, with the help of polymerase and nickase, one target molecule was able to drive DNA nano-mechanical devices one-by-one through the hybridization/polymerization displacement cycles, and every initiated machine continued to operate, causing the dramatic accumulation of G-quadruplex-contained products. The G-quadruplex structure after binding to hemin could act as a horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-mimicking DNAzyme and catalyzed the oxidation of 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) by H2O2. As a result, an enhanced color change could be detected because of the generation of oxidation product ABTS•(+). In this way, the DNA machine has no any signal loss and enables the quantitative measurement of p53 DNA with a detection limit of 10fM, indicating great promise for unique application in biomedical research and early clinical diagnosis.