DNA-Programmed Reaction to Evaluate Specific IgE for Allergy Point-of-Care Testing

A DNA-programmed reaction to evaluate non-nucleic acids inputs with computation speed (≈30 min) and sensitivity (sub-picomolar) suitable for analyzing physiologically relevant biomarkers in a one-pot format and point-of-care testing setting is reported. Specifically, a DNA programme based on the proximity-activation exponential amplification reaction (PEAR) is designed to evaluate specific IgE (sIgE) against Der p 2 implicated in dust mite allergy which affects millions worldwide. In this work, we tailored the molecular components of the input-to-oligo barcode conversion module as an AND gate to detect inputs with binding specificity to Der p 2 antigen and is of an IgE isotype. In addition, an in situ biotinylation method is developed to generate amplified oligo barcodes amendable for direct visualization on a lateral flow format. As a proof-of-concept demonstration of its potential clinical utility, 21 clinical samples are evaluated by the as-developed sIgE PEAR programme using the dual readout modality of real-time fluorescence measurement for precise input quantification and simple lateral flow yes/no answer.