Swing Arm Location-Controllable DNA Walker for Electrochemiluminescence Biosensing

Anal Chem. 2021 Mar 2;93(8):4051-4058. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c05051. Epub 2021 Feb 15.

Abstract

Here, we described a novel swing arm location-controllable DNA walker based on the DNA tetrahedral nanostructures (DTNs) for nucleic acid detection using the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) microcrystals (TAPE-Pe MCs) consisting of the nonplanar molecular tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)ethene (TAPE) and planar molecular perylene (Pe) as electrochemiluminescence (ECL) luminophores. Specifically, the swing arm strands and track strands were fixed simultaneously on the DTNs to obtain the location-controllable DNA walker, which possessed an improved reaction efficiency compared to that of a fixed swing arm-based DNA walker due to the quantitative and orderly swing arm on the DTNs. On the other hand, the Pe microcrystals doped by TAPE molecules could decrease the π-π stacking of Pe molecules for the ECL efficiency enhancement, achieving a blue-shifted and intense ECL emission. Therefore, we defined this enhanced and blue-shifted ECL phenomenon as "inhibition of conjugation-driven ECL (IC-ECL)". To prove these principles, a location-controllable DNA walker-based ECL biosensor was developed with microRNA let-7a as target molecules. The ECL biosensor achieved a low detection limit of 4.92 fM within a wide linear range from 10 fM to 100 nM. This approach offers a new insight for ECL efficiency increase and location-controllable strategies with improved reaction efficiency, demonstrating potential in diagnostic analysis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arm
  • Biosensing Techniques*
  • DNA
  • Electrochemical Techniques
  • Limit of Detection
  • Luminescent Measurements
  • MicroRNAs*

Substances

  • MicroRNAs
  • DNA