Techniques allowing sensitive and early detection of nucleic acid biomarkers are of great interest to control aggressive diseases like cancer. But the vast majority of techniques currently available for the detection of nucleic acids either require signal/target amplification or sophisticated sensor designs. We have recently developed a single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based sensor for ultra-sensitive detection of a p53 tumor suppressor gene without the need for target amplification. Unlike conventional FRET-based approaches where the detection is based on an increase or a decrease in the FRET signal, the technique we have developed takes advantage of the dynamic nature of a four-way junction (also known as Holliday junction, HJ) that is formed on a target-dependent manner. The sensor provides non-dynamic, static mid-FRET traces in the absence of a target but it shows dynamics between low- and high-FRET states in the presence of the target, providing a high-confidence detection. Further, the hybridization-based sensor that we developed can be easily redesigned to detect other nucleic acid biomarkers, and hence it bears a high promise for early detection of diseases.

FRET-based high-confidence single-molecule detection of DNA biomarkers

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.