Construction of a Robust Entropy-Driven DNA Nanomachine for Single-Molecule Detection of Rare Cancer Cells
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 23, 2026

A Simple, Robust, and High Throughput Single Molecule Flow Stretching Assay Implementation for Studying Transport of Molecules Along DNA
Published on: October 1, 2017
Fei Ma1, Shu-Hua Wei1, Chun-Yang Zhang1
1College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Clean Production of Fine Chemicals , Shandong Normal University , Jinan , Shandong 250014 , China.
Abstract:
Accurate and sensitive detection of rare cancer cells such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has attracted great interest in the fields of clinical diagnosis and cancer research. However, the reported methods for cancer cell detection often involve a complicated platform and laborious procedures with a limited sensitivity. Herein, we construct a new entropy-driven DNA nanomachine for single-molecule detection of rare cancer cells. This assay employs the entropy-driven DNA nanomachine for efficient cancer cell recognition and signal amplification without the involvement of any expensive and unstable antibodies and enzymes, and it enables one-step detection of living cancer cells with high sensitivity and good specificity. This DNA nanomachine can be further applied for rare CTC detection in whole blood samples.
Related Concept Videos
Entropy
Entropy
When an ideal gas expands isothermally, the disorder in the gas increases. From the molecular perspective, the gas molecules have more volume to move around in.
Consider an infinitesimal step in the expansion, which...
Entropy within the Cell
Standard Entropy Change for a Reaction
Entropy and Solvation
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell

