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Sensitive detection of miRNA-141 using an endogenous dual-switch activated bipedal DNAzyme walker biosensor
Beibei Zhang1, Xinyi Wang1, Min Pan1
1State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China. zhangyw@mail.buct.edu.cn.
Nanoscale
|August 20, 2025
Summary
A novel dual-switch fluorescent biosensor detects the tumour biomarker miRNA-141 with high sensitivity. This innovative approach utilizes a bipedal DNAzyme walker and dual-gating system for precise cancer detection.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Molecular Diagnostics
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Tumour cells often exhibit elevated levels of miRNA-141 and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1).
- Accurate detection of tumour biomarkers is crucial for early cancer diagnosis and treatment monitoring.
- Existing detection methods may lack sensitivity or specificity for complex biological samples.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel dual-switch fluorescent biosensor for highly sensitive detection of the tumour biomarker miRNA-141.
- To construct an endogenous dual-gating system leveraging miRNA-141 and APE1 expression in tumour cells.
- To establish a cascade dual-amplification strategy for enhanced trace analysis in biological samples.
Main Methods:
- Development of a bipedal DNAzyme walker integrated with streptavidin-modified magnetic beads for target isolation.
- Enzyme-free strand displacement reaction initiated by the presence of both miRNA-141 and APE1.
- Utilizing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and DNAzyme-mediated substrate cleavage for signal amplification.
- Employing magnetic separation technology for efficient component isolation and signal enhancement.
Main Results:
- The biosensor demonstrated dual-switch-specific activation, minimizing interference from non-target molecules.
- A cascade dual-amplification system based on non-enzymatic strand displacement and DNAzyme walking was successfully established.
- The system achieved high sensitivity and specificity, showing excellent discrimination between tumour and normal cells.
- The biosensor exhibited robust performance in spiked serum samples, indicating good anti-interference capabilities.
Conclusions:
- A novel and highly sensitive dual-switch fluorescent biosensor for miRNA-141 detection was successfully developed.
- The integrated system of magnetic separation, non-enzymatic strand displacement, and DNAzyme walking offers significant signal amplification.
- This strategy provides a promising new platform for high-precision tumour biomarker detection in complex biological matrices.
