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DNAzyme signal amplification based on Au@Ag core–shell nanorods for highly sensitive SERS sensing miRNA-21

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Abstract

Here, we developed a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor based on functionalized Au@Ag core–shell nanorods (Au@Ag NRs) and cascade DNAzyme amplifier (CSA) for sensitive and accurate determination of microRNA-21 (miRNA-21). The as-prepared SERS nanoprobes were composed of a thiol-modification hairpin probe (HP2)–functionalized Au@Ag NRs and hairpin DNAzyme (HP1-Dz). Compared with original gold nanorods, the silver shell caused an enhancement of plasmonic properties, resulting in a significant enhancement of Raman signals. In the presence of target miRNAs, the hairpin construction of HP1-Dz changed due to DNA/RNA hybridization; subsequently, the DNAzyme-catalyzed cleaving process changed, and the Raman signals of the SERS nanoprobes gradually “turned off” with time elapse because of the dissociation of the Raman reporter from the surface of Au@Ag NRs. Hence, based on this principle, the proposed SERS sensor exhibited good linearity in the range 0.5 fM to 10 nM for miRNA-21 detection with a detection limit (LOD) of 0.5 fM. The proposed SERS platform has potential application in quantitative and precise detection of miRNA-21 in human serum.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21775064), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR202103030844), Key Laboratory for Biological Medicine in Shandong Universities, Weifang Key Laboratory for Antibodies Medicine, and the technical support from the Testing Center of Hefei University of Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Biological Medicine in Shandong Universities, Weifang Key Laboratory for Antibodies Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, 261053, China

    Wei Xu, Hao Chen & Jinhua Dong

  2. School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, China

    Yu Zhang & Honglin Liu

  3. The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, China

    Ranjha Khan & Jianjun Shen

Authors
  1. Wei Xu
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  2. Yu Zhang
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  3. Hao Chen
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  4. Jinhua Dong
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  5. Ranjha Khan
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  6. Jianjun Shen
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  7. Honglin Liu
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Correspondence to Wei Xu or Honglin Liu.

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Written informed consent was obtained, and this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (No. 2021-RE-070).

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There is no conflict of interest. The authors declare that they have no financial interests that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Xu, W., Zhang, Y., Chen, H. et al. DNAzyme signal amplification based on Au@Ag core–shell nanorods for highly sensitive SERS sensing miRNA-21. Anal Bioanal Chem 414, 4079–4088 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-022-04053-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-022-04053-z

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