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Updated: Jun 28, 2025
Circulating MicroRNA Quantification Using DNA-binding Dye Chemistry and Droplet Digital PCR
Published on: June 26, 2016
Quantification of MicroRNA in a Single Living Cell via Ionic Current Rectification-Based Nanopore for Triple Negative
Shujie Zhang1, Laibo Song1, Ruina Zheng1
1Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics-Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Accurate analysis of microRNAs (miRNAs) at the single-cell level is extremely important for deeply understanding their multiple and intricate biological functions. Despite some advancements in analyzing single-cell miRNAs, challenges such as intracellular interferences and insufficient detection limits still remain. In this work, an ultrasensitive nanopore sensor for quantitative single-cell miRNA-155 detection is constructed based on ionic current rectification (ICR) coupled with enzyme-free catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA). Benefiting from the enzyme-free CHA amplification strategy, the detection limit of the nanopore sensor for miRNA-155 reaches 10 fM and the nanopore sensor is more adaptable to complex intracellular environments. With the nanopore sensor, the concentration of miRNA-155 in living single cells is quantified to realize the early diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Furthermore, the nanopore sensor can be applied in screening anticancer drugs by tracking the expression level of miRNA-155. This work provides an adaptive and universal method for quantitatively analyzing intracellular miRNAs, which will greatly improve our understanding of cell heterogeneity and provide a more reliable scientific basis for exploring major diseases at the single-cell level.
