Sensitive Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering-Based Detection of a BIGH3 Point Mutation Associated with Avellino Corneal Dystrophy

Anal Chem. 2016 Dec 6;88(23):11288-11292. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b03320. Epub 2016 Nov 14.

Abstract

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is highly useful for sensitive analytical sensing; however, its practical availability for detecting a point mutation associated with disease in clinical sample was rarely proved. Herein, we present a toehold-mediated, DNA displacement-based, SERS sensor for detecting point mutations in the BIGH3 gene associated with the most common corneal dystrophies (CDs) in a clinical setting. To diagnose Avellino corneal dystrophy (ACD), selectivity was ensured by exploring optimal DNA displacement conditions such as length of toehold and hybridization temperature. A SERS-efficient Ag@Au bimetallic nanodendrite was employed to ensure sensitivity. Optimization for a clinical setting showed that discrimination was maximized when toehold length was 6-mer (T6), and hybridization temperature was 36 °C. On the basis of tests that used clinical homozygous and heterozygous CD samples, a single-base mismatched DNA sequence was identifiable within 30 min with a limit of detection (LOD) of 400 fM. From the results, we conclude that our toehold-mediated, DNA displacement-based, SERS sensor allows a rapid and sensitive detection of a BIGH3 gene point mutation associated with Avellino corneal dystrophy, indicating the practical ability of the method to diagnose genetic diseases caused by point mutations.

Publication types

  • Letter
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary / genetics*
  • Extracellular Matrix Proteins / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Point Mutation*
  • Spectrum Analysis, Raman
  • Surface Properties
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta / genetics*

Substances

  • Extracellular Matrix Proteins
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta
  • betaIG-H3 protein

Supplementary concepts

  • Corneal dystrophy Avellino type