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Updated: Dec 30, 2025

A Droplet-Based Microfluidic Approach and Microsphere-PCR Amplification for Single-Stranded DNA Amplicons
Published on: November 14, 2018
Single-Nanoparticle ICPMS DNA Assay Based on Hybridization-Chain-Reaction-Mediated Spherical Nucleic Acid Assembly
Bang-Rui Li1, Hao Tang1, Ru-Qin Yu1
1Institute of Chemical Biology and Nanomedicine, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering , Hunan University , Changsha 410082 , P. R. China.
Abstract:
The detection of nucleic acid is critical for clinic diagnostics. Single-nanoparticle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SP-ICPMS) has demonstrated unique advantages for nucleic acid detection. Here we report the development of a novel SP-ICPMS DNA assay based on a target-induced hybridization chain reaction to achieve controlled spherical nucleic acid assembly. The assembly process generated large gold nanoparticle aggregates, and the number of aggregates could be counted by SP-ICPMS, which was closely correlated to the concentration of the target DNA. This simple homogeneous assay could analyze DNA within the range of 5 fM to 10 pM with excellent selectivity and applicability for real sample analysis. It is envisioned that the developed approach might create a useful SP-ICPMS platform for biomolecule detection.

