CdTe Quantum Dots Enhance Feasibility of EvaGreen-Based Real-Time PCR with Decent Amplification Fidelity

Facilitation of Dye-Based Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction with Poly(ethylene glycol)-Engrafted Graphene Oxide

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is an important and extensively utilized technique in medical and biotechnological applications. qPCR enables the real-time detection of nucleic acid during amplification, thus surpassing the necessity of post-amplification gel electrophoresis for amplicon detection. Despite being widely employed in molecular diagnostics, qPCR exhibits limitations attributed to nonspecific DNA amplification that compromises the efficiency and fidelity of qPCR. Herein, we demonstrate that poly(ethylene glycol)-engrafted nanosized graphene oxide (PEG-nGO) can significantly improve the efficiency and specificity of qPCR by adsorbing single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) without affecting the fluorescence of double-stranded DNA binding dye during DNA amplification. PEG-nGO adsorbs surplus ssDNA primers in the initial phase of PCR, having lower concentrations of DNA amplicons and thus minimizing the nonspecific annealing of ssDNA and false amplification due to primer dimerization and erroneous priming. As compared to conventional qPCR, the addition of PEG-nGO and the DNA binding dye, EvaGreen, in the qPCR setup (dubbed as PENGO-qPCR) significantly enhances the specificity and sensitivity of DNA amplification by preferential adsorption of ssDNA without inhibiting DNA polymerase activity. The PENGO-qPCR system for detection of influenza viral RNA exhibited a 67-fold higher sensitivity than the conventional qPCR setup. Thus, the performance of a qPCR can be greatly enhanced by adding PEG-nGO as a PCR enhancer as well as EvaGreen as a DNA binding dye to the qPCR mixture, which exhibits a significantly improved sensitivity of the qPCR.

Spatiotemporal Regulation of Metal Ions in the Polymerase Chain Reaction

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been widely used in medical diagnosis and forensic identification due to its ultrahigh sensitivity and signal amplification. Metal ions (i.e., Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺) have been considered PCR inhibitors and rarely shown their positive roles in PCR amplification until our report, in which we discovered that metal ions can significantly improve the PCR specificity and the yield of target DNA sequences. For an in-depth investigation with taking copper ions as a typical model, here we found an interesting spatiotemporal regulation mechanism of metal ions in PCR. The ionic concentration window for improving PCR specificity not only was independent of annealing temperature but also can be well regulated by both the annealing time and extension time. Using the ionic concentration window as a measure, the time affects either the amount or the sequence length of nonspecific amplicons in the space. The mechanism proposed in this work will deepen our understanding of the unneglectable roles of metal ions in DNA replication and meanwhile provide a new strategy for designing regulation kits for PCR-based biomedical applications.

Quantum dots for a high-throughput Pfu polymerase based multi-round polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

We developed a Pfu polymerase based multi-round PCR technique assisted by quantum dots (QDs).

Development of a high-throughput real time PCR based on a hot-start alternative for Pfu mediated by quantum dots

Hot start (HS) PCR is an excellent alternative for high-throughput real time PCR due to its ability to prevent nonspecific amplification at low temperature. Development of a cost-effective and simple HS PCR technique to guarantee high-throughput PCR specificity and consistency still remains a great challenge. In this study, we systematically investigated the HS characteristics of QDs triggered in real time PCR with EvaGreen and SYBR Green I dyes by the analysis of amplification curves, standard curves and melting curves. Two different kinds of DNA polymerases, Pfu and Taq, were employed. Here we showed that high specificity and efficiency of real time PCR were obtained in a plasmid DNA and an error-prone two-round PCR assay using QD-based HS PCR, even after an hour preincubation at 50 °C before real time PCR. Moreover, the results obtained by QD-based HS PCR were comparable to a commercial Taq antibody DNA polymerase. However, no obvious HS effect of QDs was found in real time PCR using Taq DNA polymerase. The findings of this study demonstrated that a cost-effective high-throughput real time PCR based on QD triggered HS PCR could be established with high consistency, sensitivity and accuracy.

A hot start alternative for high-fidelity DNA polymerase amplification mediated by quantum dots

Quantum dots (QDs) are of great interest due to their unique chemical and physical properties. Recently, a hot start (HS) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification performance based on QDs with a high-fidelity Pfu DNA polymerase has been reported. However, whether QDs can trigger HS effects with other high-fidelity or conventional DNA polymerases is yet to be understood. In the present study, we studied the QD-triggered HS effects with four high-fidelity and three conventional DNA polymerases, and the HS effect comparisons among them were also made. It was found that QDs could trigger a distinct HS PCR amplification performance with all the four tested high-fidelity DNA polymerases, and specific target DNA could be well amplified even if the PCR mixture was pre-incubated for 2 h at 50°C. On the contrary, the HS effects were not prominent with all the three conventional Taq DNA polymerases. Specifically, the fidelity of Pfu is not sacrificed in the presence of QDs, even after a 1 h pre-incubation at 50°C before PCR. Furthermore, the electrophoresis results preliminarily demonstrated that QDs prefer to adsorb high-fidelity polymerases rather than conventional ones, which might result in the QD-triggered HS effects on PCR performance by using high-fidelity DNA polymerases.

Employment of nanomaterials in polymerase chain reaction: insight into the impacts and putative operating mechanisms of nano-additives in PCR

The latest developments in the field of nanomaterial-assisted PCR are evaluated with a focus on putative operating mechanisms.