A versatile biosensing platform coupling CRISPR-Cas12a and aptamers for detection of diverse analytes

Xiangxiang Zhao; Shanshan Li; Guang Liu; Zhong Wang; Zhiheng Yang; Quanwei Zhang; Mindong Liang; Jiakun Liu; Zilong Li; Yaojun Tong; Guoliang Zhu; Xinye Wang; Lan Jiang; Weishan Wang; Gao-Yi Tan; Lixin Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2020.09.004

A versatile biosensing platform coupling CRISPR-Cas12a and aptamers for detection of diverse analytes

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2021 Jan 15;66(1):69-77. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2020.09.004. Epub 2020 Sep 4.

Authors

Xiangxiang Zhao¹, Shanshan Li², Guang Liu¹, Zhong Wang³, Zhiheng Yang¹, Quanwei Zhang⁴, Mindong Liang¹, Jiakun Liu⁵, Zilong Li⁶, Yaojun Tong⁷, Guoliang Zhu¹, Xinye Wang¹, Lan Jiang¹, Weishan Wang⁸, Gao-Yi Tan⁹, Lixin Zhang¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, and School of Biotechnology, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Shanghai 200237, China.
² State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Department of Urology, Sixth People's Hospital South Campus Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 201499, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, and School of Biotechnology, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Shanghai 200237, China; State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
⁵ Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
⁷ The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs Lyngby 2800, Denmark.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, and School of Biotechnology, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Shanghai 200237, China; State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: wangws@im.ac.cn.
⁹ State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, and School of Biotechnology, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Shanghai 200237, China. Electronic address: tangy@ecust.edu.cn.
¹⁰ State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, and School of Biotechnology, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Shanghai 200237, China. Electronic address: lxzhang@ecust.edu.cn.

PMID: 36654316
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2020.09.004

Abstract

Rapid and sensitive detection of various analytes is in high demand. Apart from its application in genome editing, CRISPR-Cas also shows promises in nucleic acid detection applications. To further exploit the potential of CRISPR-Cas for detection of diverse analytes, we present a versatile biosensing platform that couples the excellent affinity of aptamers for broad-range analytes with the collateral single-strand DNA cleavage activity of CRISPR-Cas12a. We demonstrated that the biosensors developed by this platform can be used to detect protein and small molecule in human serum with a complicated background, i.e., the tumor marker alpha fetoprotein and cocaine with the detection limits of 0.07 fmol/L and 0.34 μmol/L, respectively, highlighting the advantages of simplicity, sensitivity, short detection time, and low cost compared with the state-of-the-art biosensing approaches. Altogether, this biosensing platform with plug-and-play design show great potential in the detection of diverse analytes.

Keywords: Alpha fetoprotein detection; Aptamer; Biosensing platform; CRISPR–Cas12a; Cocaine detection; Diverse analyte.