Visual and fluorescence dual mode platform for sensitive and accurate screening of breast carcinoma

Compared to single-mode detection, dual-mode sensing strategies have garnered increasing attention from researchers due to their superior detection accuracy and reliability. Exosomes, as non-invasive biomarkers, hold significant potential for disease diagnosis. However, sensitive and precise detection of exosomes still presents considerable technical challenges. Inspired by the advantages of dual-mode detection, we developed a visual and fluorescence dual-mode platform (VFDMP) based on an aptamer strategy for exosome detection using enzyme-free nucleic acid amplification and nanomaterial-assisted cation exchange reactions (CERs). The Aptamer-ssDNA complexes capture tumor-derived exosomes, releasing abundant single-stranded DNA (ssDNAs), which then triggers the catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) cycle, leading to the release of Ag⁺. The introduced CdTe quantum dots (QDs) act as signal reporters, interacting with Ag⁺ through CERs, and switching both fluorescence and visual signals from "on" to "off" to achieve exosome detection. Based on this innovative sensing principle, the developed FL/visual dual-mode aptasensor demonstrated excellent sensitivity and accuracy, achieving a low detection limit of 1.1 particles/μL by fluorometer, while exosome concentrations as low as 300 particles/mL could be visually distinguished by naked eye. Furthermore, this dual-mode platform can directly detect exosomes in clinical human serum samples, with only a small volume (10 μL) required. It can accurately differentiate between healthy individuals and breast cancer patients, as well as identify cancer stages (Stage II and Stage III) and subtypes (triple-negative, luminal B, and HER2+). These results suggest that the developed dual-mode detection strategy holds great promise as a sensitive, accurate method for biomarker analysis in clinical samples.