Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 11, 2025
In situ TEM of Biological Assemblies in Liquid
Published on: December 30, 2013
Intracellular Nonenzymatic In Situ Growth of Three-Dimensional DNA Nanostructures for Imaging Specific Biomolecules
Ran Liu1, Songbai Zhang1,2, Ting-Ting Zheng1
1Cancer Metastasis Alert and Prevention Center, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Cancer Metastasis Chemoprevention and Chemotherapy, National and Local Joint Biomedical Engineering Research Center on Photodynamic Technologies, State Key Laboratory of Photocatalysis on Energy and Environment, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
Abstract:
Real-time in situ monitoring of low-abundance cancer biomarkers (e.g., miRNAs and proteins) in living cells by nonenzymatic assembly entirely from original DNA probes remains unexplored due to an extremely complex intracellular environment. Herein, a nonenzymatic palindrome-catalyzed DNA assembly (NEPA) technique is developed to execute the in situ imaging of intracellular miRNAs by assembling a three-dimensional nanoscale DNA spherical structure (NS) with low mobility from three free hairpin-type DNAs rather than from DNA intermediates based on the interaction of designed terminal palindromes. Target miRNA was detected down to 1.4 pM, and its family members were distinguished with almost 100% accuracy. The subcellular localization of NS products can be visualized in real time. The NEPA-based sensing strategy is also suitable for the intracellular in situ fluorescence imaging of cancer-related protein receptors, offering valuable insight into developing sensing protocols for understanding the biological function of vital biomolecules in disease pathogenesis and future therapeutic applications.
