Target-Triggered Assembly in a Nanopipette for Electrochemical Single-Cell Analysis

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Engineered nanopipettes offer advanced electrochemical nanosensing capabilities for biological research and medical applications.
• Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a vital molecule in cellular energy and signaling, making its analysis important.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a generic, target-triggered aptamer assembly method for nanopipette-based nanosensing.
• To demonstrate sensitive and rapid electrochemical single-cell analysis of intracellular ATP.

Main Methods:

• Immobilizing thiolated aptamers on a gold-coated nanopipette tip.
• Utilizing backfilled pairing aptamers for ATP-dependent split aptamer linkage.
• Employing electrochemical detection of enhanced rectification signals.

Main Results:

• Achieved sensitive and rapid electrochemical single-cell analysis of ATP.
• Demonstrated high selectivity, stability, and recyclability of the ATP-responsive nanopipette.
• Observed enhanced rectification signals due to aptamer assembly and increased surface charge density.

Conclusions:

• The developed nanopipette tool provides a practical method for intracellular ATP analysis in single cells.
• The target-triggered aptamer assembly mechanism is versatile and can be adapted for sensing other biological molecules.