Ultrasensitive optical biosensor for detection of miRNA-155 using positively charged Au nanoparticles

Sci Rep. 2018 Feb 13;8(1):2943. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-20229-z.

Abstract

An ultrasensitive optical biosensor for microRNA-155 (miR-155) was developed to diagnose breast cancer at early stages. At first, the probe DNA covalently bind to the negatively charged gold nanoparticles (citrate-capped AuNPs). Then, the target miR-155 electrostatically adsorb onto the positively charged gold nanoparticles (polyethylenimine-capped AuNP) surface. Finally, by mixing citrate-capped AuNP/probe and polyethylenimine-capped AuNP/miR-155, hybridization occurs and the optical signal of the mixture give a measure to quantify the miR-155 content. The proposed biosensor is able to specify 3-base-pair mismatches and genomic DNA from target miR-155. The novelty of this biosensor is in its ability to trap the label-free target by its branched positively charged polyethylenimine. This method increases loading the target on the polyethylenimine-capped AuNPs' surface. So, proposed sensor enables miR-155 detection at very low concentrations with the detection limit of 100 aM and a wide linear range from 100 aM to 100 fM.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biosensing Techniques / methods*
  • Calibration
  • Gold / chemistry*
  • Limit of Detection*
  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • MicroRNAs / analysis*
  • Optical Phenomena*

Substances

  • MicroRNAs
  • Gold