Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Author Spotlight: Advancements in DNA Nanosensors – Addressing Sensitivity and Selectivity Challenges in Molecular Detection
Published on: February 9, 2024
Novel bead-based platform for direct detection of unlabelled nucleic acids through Single Nucleobase Labelling
Seshasailam Venkateswaran1, Maria Angélica Luque-González2, Mavys Tabraue-Chávez3
1School of Chemistry, EaStCHEM, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Over the last decade, circulating microRNAs have received attention as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. In particular, microRNA122 has been demonstrated to be an early and more sensitive indicator of drug-induced liver injury than the widely used biomarkers such as alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. Recently, microRNA122 has been used in vitro to assess the cellular toxicity of new drugs and as a biomarker for the development of a rapid test for drug overdose/liver damage. In this proof-of-concept study, we report a PCR-free and label-free detection method that has a limit of detection (3 standard deviations) of 15 fmoles of microRNA122, by integrating a dynamic chemical approach for "Single Nucleobase Labelling" with a bead-based platform (Luminex®) thereby, in principle, demonstrating the exciting prospect of rapid and accurate profiling of any microRNAs related to diseases and toxicology.
Related Concept Videos
Labeling DNA Probes
Radioisotopes, fluorophores, or small molecule binding partners like biotin or digoxigenin, are the most widely used reporter tags for labeling DNA probes. These labels can be attached to the probe DNA molecule via...
RNA-seq
Before the discovery of RNA-seq, microarray-based methods and Sanger sequencing were used for transcriptome analysis. However, while...
Sanger Sequencing
In-situ Hybridization
Types of probes and labels
A probe is a complementary strand of DNA or RNA that binds to corresponding nucleotide sequences in a cell. Many...

