Nanoparticle-Coupled Single-Molecule Kinetic Fingerprinting for Enzymatic Activity Detection

Anal Chem. 2023 May 16;95(19):7796-7803. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c01385. Epub 2023 May 2.

Abstract

The sensitive and accurate detection of biomarkers plays an important role in clinical diagnosis and drug discovery. Currently, amplification-based methods for biomarker detection are widely explored. However, the key challenges of these methods are limited reproducibility and high background noise. To overcome these limitations, we develop a robust plasmonic nanoparticle-coupled single-molecule kinetic fingerprinting (PNP-SMKF) method to achieve ultrasensitive detection of protein kinase A (PKA). Transient binding of a short fluorescent probe with the genuine target produces a distinct kinetic signature that is completely different from that of the background signal, allowing us to recognize PKA sensitively. Importantly, integrating a plasmonic nanoparticle efficiently breaks the concentration limit of the imager strand for single-molecule imaging, thus achieving a much faster imaging speed. A limit of detection (LOD) of as low as 0.0005 U/mL is readily realized. This method holds great potential as a versatile platform for enzyme detection and inhibitor screening in the future.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers
  • Biosensing Techniques* / methods
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry
  • Limit of Detection
  • Nanoparticles*
  • Nanotechnology
  • Reproducibility of Results

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Fluorescent Dyes