Catalytic-Hairpin-Assembly-Assisted DNA Tetrahedron Nanoprobe for Intracellular MicroRNA Imaging
Qing Huang, Pei‐Qiang Ma, Huadong Li, Bin‐Cheng Yin, Bang‐Ce Ye
Abstract
The aberrant expression levels of microRNAs (miRNAs) are tightly linked with the initiation and development of various diseases and genetic disorders. Here, we reported a catalytic-hairpin-assembly-assisted DNA tetrahedron nanoprobe for intracellular miRNA detection. The target miRNA initiated the catalytic-hairpin-assembly reaction between the tetrahedron nanoprobes to generate large tetrahedron clusters with an enhanced fluorescence resonance energy transfer between the Cy3 and Cy5 dyes. The proposed nanoprobes were capable of visualizing the expression levels and spatial distributions of miRNA in living cells, providing a feasible approach in designing versatile nanostructures for reliable bioanalysis and clinical diagnosis.