"Two in one": A novel DNA cascade amplification strategy for trace detection of dual targets

According to the characteristics of DNA programming, the cascaded nucleic acid amplification technology with larger output can overcome the problem of insufficient sensitivity of single nucleic acid amplification technology, and it combines the advantages of two or even multiple nucleic acid amplification technologies at the same time. In this work, a novel cascade signal amplification strategy with strand displacement amplification (SDA) and cascade hybridization chain reaction (HCR) was proposed for trace detection of hAAG and VEGF165. HAAG-induced SDA produced a large amount of S2 to open H2 on Polystyrene (PS) nanospheres, thereby triggering cascade HCR to form DNA dendritic nanostructures with rich fluorescence (FL) signal probes (565 nm). It could realize the amplification of FL signals for the detection of hAAG. Moreover, many doxorubicin (Dox) were loaded into the GC bases of DNA dendritic nanostructures, and its FL signal was effectively shielded. VEGF165 specifically bound to its aptamer to form G-quadruplex structures, which released Dox to produce a high FL signal (590 nm) for detection of VEGF165. This work developed a unique multifunctional DNA dendritic nanostructure fluorescence probe, and cleverly designed a new "On-off" switch strategy for sensitive trace detection of cancer markers.