Bioinspired DNA sponge interface coupled with deoxyribozyme autography for nanoparticle-free nucleic acid detection...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Analytical Chemistry
• Molecular Diagnostics

Background:

• Conventional nanoparticle-labeled lateral flow assays suffer from aggregation, complex preparation, and high costs.
• Existing methods lack efficient probe immobilization and uniform signal generation.
• There is a need for advanced biosensing platforms with improved sensitivity and specificity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a nanolabel-free lateral flow chromatographic platform for sensitive nucleic acid detection.
• To integrate lossless strand displacement amplification with a DNA sponge-based capture interface.
• To engineer an interface for label-free signal generation and robust probe immobilization.

Main Methods:

• Utilized functional G-quadruplex structures as intrinsic reporting units instead of nanoparticles.
• Employed a DNA sponge network as a high-capacity capture interface with enhanced probe loading.
• Integrated strand displacement amplification with the DNA sponge interface for improved capture efficiency.

Main Results:

• Achieved a detection limit as low as 10 fM for microRNA detection.
• Demonstrated single-base mismatch discrimination capability.
• Suppressed the coffee-ring effect for uniform probe distribution and reproducible signal readout.

Conclusions:

• The proposed platform offers a label-free signal generation strategy for strip-based biosensing.
• Interface engineering enhances probe immobilization and capture efficiency for advanced biomedical analysis.
• This nanolabel-free approach overcomes limitations of conventional assays, enabling broader applications.