Application of the Dimeric G-Quadruplex and toehold-mediated strand displacement reaction for fluorescence biosensing of ochratoxin A

A G-quadruplex-assisted target-responsive dual-mode aptasensor based on copper nanoclusters synthesized in situ in a DNA hydrogel for ultrasensitive detection of ochratoxin A

Developing ultrasensitive sensing platforms for trace ochratoxin A (OTA) in food safety is still challenging. Herein, we presented a novel dual-mode sensing strategy for fluorescence and colorimetric detection of OTA by combining the target-responsive hemin-encapsulated and copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) functionalized DNA hydrogel. Through simple assembly and in situ synthesis methods, fluorescence CuNCs are synthesized and modified on the 3D hydrophilic network structure of DNA cross-linked. OTA specifically recognized by Apt-linker can control the collapse of hydrogel, resulting in the fluorescence quenching of CuNCs and release of coated hemin. Interestingly, OTA could trigger Apt-linker conformational changes to form G-quadruplex structures, allowing the released hemin to form G-quadruplex/hemin DNAzyme via self-assembly. Fluorescence signal amplification could be achieved through further fluorescence quenching of CuNCs caused by DNAzyme-catalyzed hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) because of the peroxidase activity of DNAzyme. Simultaneously, DNAzyme could catalyze the H2O2-mediated oxidation of TMB to provide colorimetric signal. Thereafter, the DNA-CuNCs hydrogel exhibited low detection limits of 3.49 pg/mL in fluorescence mode and 0.25 ng/mL in colorimetric modality. Real sample analyses of foodstuffs showed satisfactory results, providing prospective potential for monitoring mycotoxin contaminant.

Silver nanocluster-based aptasensor for the label-free and enzyme-free detection of ochratoxin A

Mycotoxin contamination in cereal is a global concern, threatening food safety and human health, necessitating the development of rapid on-site methods. Here, a label- and enzyme-free biosensor was developed based on aptamer-regulated DNA-silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) for rapid detection of ochratoxin A (OTA). A novel DNA-templated AgNCs emitting strong red fluorescence was designed and synthesized in this study. The partial sequence of the DNA template was selected from the complementary OTA aptamer (Apt-OTA) sequence, which can quench fluorescence from the AgNCs via hybridization in the absence of OTA. In the presence of OTA, the high OTA-Aptamer affinity prevented the Apt-OTA from quenching the AgNCs, resulting in "turn on" of the fluorescence. This biosensor eliminated the use of costly reagents, complex pretreatments, and sophisticated equipment, which could realize the point-of-care testing (POCT) of OTA with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.3 nM and a detection time of 45 min.

Graphene oxide-enhanced colorimetric detection of Mec A gene based on toehold-mediated strand displacement

Mec A, as a representative gene mediating resistance to β-lactam antibiotics in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), allows a new genetic analysis for the detection of MRSA. Here, a sensitive, prompt, and visual colorimetry is reported to detect the Mec A gene based on toehold-mediated strand displacement (TMSD) and the enrichment effect of graphene oxide (GO). The Mec A triggers to generate the profuse amount of signal units of single-stranded DNA (SG) composed of a long single-stranded base tail and a base head: the tail can be adsorbed and enriched on the surface of GO; the head can form a G quadruplex structure to exert catalytic function towards 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid). Therefore, through the enrichment effect of GO, the signal units SG reflects different degrees of signal amplification on different substrates (such as aqueous solution or filter membrane). This strategy demonstrates a broad linear working range from 100 pM to 1.5 nM (solution) and 1 pM to 1 nM (filter membrane), with a low detection limit of 39.53 pM (solution) and 333 fM (filter membrane). Analytical performance in real samples suggests that this developed colorimetry is endowed with immense potential for clinical detection applications.

Improvement of the sensitivity of lateral flow systems for detecting mycotoxins: Up-to-date strategies and future perspectives

Mycotoxins are dangerous human and animal health-threatening secondary fungal metabolites that can be found in various food and agricultural products. Several countries have established regulations to restrict their presence in food and agricultural products destined for human and animal consumption. Consequently, the need to develop highly sensitive and smart detection systems was recognized worldwide. Lateral flow assay possesses the advantages of easy operation, rapidity, stability, accuracy, and specificity, and it plays an important role in the detection of mycotoxins. Nevertheless, strategies to comprehensively improve the sensitivity of lateral flow assay to mycotoxins in food have rarely been highlighted and discussed. In this article, a comprehensive overview was presented on the application of lateral flow assay in mycotoxin detection in food samples by highlighting the principle of lateral flow assay, presenting a detailed discussion on various analytical performance-improvement strategies, such as the development of high-affinity recognition reagents, immunogen immobilization methods, and signal amplification. Additionally, a detailed discussion on the various signal analyzers and interpretation approaches was provided. Finally, current hurdles and future perspectives on the application of lateral flow assay in the detection of mycotoxins were discussed.

Dual-Signal Integrated Aptasensor for Microcystin-LR Detection via In Situ Generation of Silver Nanoclusters Induced by Circular DNA Strand Displacement Reactions

Inspired by the signal accumulation of circular DNA strand displacement reactions (CD-SDRs) and the in situ generation of silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) from signature template sequences, a dual-signal integrated aptasensor was designed for microcystin-LR (MC-LR) detection. The aptamer was programmed to be included in an enzyme-free CD-SDR, which utilized MC-LR as the primer and outputted the H1/H2 dsDNA in a continuous manner according to the ideal state. Ingeniously, H1/H2 dsDNA was enriched with signature template sequences, allowing in situ generation of AgNCs signal probes. To enhance the signal amplification performance, co-reaction acceleration strategies and CRISPR-Cas12a nucleases were invoked. The H1/H2 dsDNA could trigger the incidental cleavage performance of CRISPR-Cas12a nucleases: cis-cleavage reduced signature template sequences for the synthetic AgNCs, while trans-cleavage enabled fluorescence (FL) analysis. Meanwhile, AuPtAg was selected as the substrate material to facilitate the S2O82- reduction reaction for enhancing the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) basal signals. ECL and FL detection do not interfere with each other and have improved accuracy and sensitivity, with limits of detection of 0.011 and 0.023 pmol/L, respectively. This widens the path for designing dual-mode sensing strategies for signal amplification.

A G-triplex and G-quadruplex concatemer-enhanced fluorescence probe coupled with hybridization chain reaction for ultrasensitive aptasensing of ochratoxin A

Ochratoxin A (OTA), a typical mycotoxin contaminant found in various agricultural products and foods, poses a serious threat to human health. In this study, an aptasensor based on a novel fluorescence probe comprising a G-rich DNA sequence (G43) and thioflavin T (ThT) was designed via hybridization chain reaction (HCR) for the ultrasensitive detection of OTA. G43 is a concatemer of G-quadruplex and G-triplex (a G-quadruplex-like structure with one G-quartet removed), which can drastically enhance the fluorescence intensity of ThT. For this strategy to work, the OTA aptamer is pro-locked in a hairpin structure, denoted "hairpin-locked aptamer" (HL-Apt). OTA binds to HL-Apt, opens the hairpin structure, releases the trigger sequence, and initiates the HCR reaction to form a long DNA duplex and numerous side chains. The side chains combine entirely with the complementary DNA and liberate the pro-locked G43 DNA, dramatically enhancing the intensity of the ThT fluorescence signal. The fluorescence intensity correlates linearly with the OTA concentration between 0.02 and 2.00 ng mL^-1, and the method has a detection limit of 0.008 ng mL^-1. The developed aptasensor was used to detect OTA in foodstuffs with satisfactory results.

Recent Advances of Biosensors for Detection of Multiple Antibiotics

The abuse of antibiotics has caused a serious threat to human life and health. It is urgent to develop sensors that can detect multiple antibiotics quickly and efficiently. Biosensors are widely used in the field of antibiotic detection because of their high specificity. Advanced artificial intelligence/machine learning algorithms have allowed for remarkable achievements in image analysis and face recognition, but have not yet been widely used in the field of biosensors. Herein, this paper reviews the biosensors that have been widely used in the simultaneous detection of multiple antibiotics based on different detection mechanisms and biorecognition elements in recent years, and compares and analyzes their characteristics and specific applications. In particular, this review summarizes some AI/ML algorithms with excellent performance in the field of antibiotic detection, and which provide a platform for the intelligence of sensors and terminal apps portability. Furthermore, this review gives a short review of biosensors for the detection of multiple antibiotics.

A novel fluorescent aptasensor based on 3D porous nitrogen-sulfur co-doped carbon mesh and hybridization chain reaction for sensitive detection of ochratoxin A

A novel three-dimensional (3D) porous nitrogen-sulfur co-doped carbon (N-S-C) mesh was synthesized and used for the first time as the quenching material to construct a fluorescent aptasensor for ochratoxin A (OTA) detection. The fluorescent aptasensor with enzyme-free signal amplification strategy was developed by using cDNA as a promoter to trigger hybridization chain reaction (HCR), which effectively improved the sensitivity of this aptasensor. In the absence of OTA, 3D porous N-S-C mesh can adsorb carboxyfluorescein FAM-labeled hairpin DNA1 (H1-FAM) and hairpin DNA2 (H2) and quench the fluorescence of FAM. In the presence of the OTA, the OTA specifically binds to the aptamer strand and the DNA duplex undergoes dissociation. The released cDNA in turn serves as a promoter for HCR, and the strand assembly of H1-FAM and H2 is triggered by the promoter to generate long-strand DNA polymers via HCR, resulting in an increasing fluorescent signal. Under optimal conditions, there was a good linear relationship between lgC_OTA and fluorescence intensity difference in the range 0.01-500 ng/mL (R² = 0.993), and the detection limit was 2.7 pg/mL. The designed sensor platform was applied to determine spiked OTA in peanut, wheat flour, corn flour, black tea, and wine with recoveries in the range of 94.4-119.6%.

A label-free fluorescent aptasensor based on a novel exponential rolling circle amplification for highly sensitive ochratoxin A detection

Rapid and sensitive analysis of ochratoxin A (OTA) plays an important role in food safety. Here, an aptasensor based on novel exponential rolling circle amplification (ERCA) was proposed for ultrasensitive and label-free fluorescence detection of OTA. The attachment of OTA to its aptamer could release H and rapidly hybridize with CT to initiate rolling circle amplification (RCA). The amplicons could further displace H from APH to initiate recycled RCA, achieving exponential growth of amplification products that contained G4 dimers for lighting up ThT. Benefiting from the exponential amplification efficiency of the ERCA strategy and the high fluorescence quantum yield of G4 dimer/ThT, this strategy exhibited a wide linear range from 10 fg/mL to 10 ng/mL with a detection limit of 4.3 fg/mL. In addition, the aptasensor displayed satisfactory recoveries in real sample analysis. We believe that this novel aptasensor possesses promising application prospects in food safety and medicine detection.

Passion fruit-inspired dendritic mesoporous silica nanospheres-enriched quantum dots coupled with magnetism-controllable aptasensor enable sensitive detection of ochratoxin A in food products

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a powerful mycotoxin present in a variety of food products, and its detection is important for human health. Here, a fluorescent aptasensor is reported for sensitive OTA determination. Specifically, the surface of bio-inspired passion fruit-like dendritic mesoporous silica nanospheres-enriched quantum dots (MSNQs-apt) was first modified with the OTA aptamer as the recognition unit and fluorescence emitter, while the aptamer-complementary DNA (MNPs-cDNA) was linked with the magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as the separation element. In the range of 2.56 pg/mL to 8 ng/mL, the proposed aptasensor exhibited satisfactory linearity and a detection limit of 1.402 pg/mL. The developed aptasensor achieved recoveries of 90.98-103.20% and 94.33-107.57 % in red wine and wheat flour samples, respectively. By simply replacing the aptamer, this aptasensor can be easily extended to detection of other analytes, suggesting its potential as a universal detection platform for mycotoxins in food products.

An accurate and ultrasensitive ratiometric electrochemical aptasensor for determination of Ochratoxin A based on catalytic hairpin assembly

Ochratoxin A (OTA) pollution in agricultural products has raised the pressing to develop sensitive, accurate and convenient detection methods. Herein, an accurate and ultrasensitive ratiometric electrochemical aptasensor was proposed based on catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) for OTA detection. In this strategy, the target recognition and CHA reaction were both accomplished in the same system, which avoided tedious multi-steps operation and extra reagents, providing the advantage of convenience with only a one-step reaction and without enzyme. The labeled Fc and MB were used as the signal-switching molecules, avoiding various interferences and greatly improving the reproducibility (RSD: 3.197%). This aptasensor achieved trace-level detection for OTA with LOD of 81 fg/mL in the linear range of lower concentration (100 fg/mL-50 ng/mL). Moreover, this strategy was successfully applied to OTA detection in cereals with comparable results of HPLC-MS. This aptasensor provided a viable platform for accurate, ultrasensitive, and one-step detection of OTA in food.

A Novel Fluorescent Aptasensor Based on Dual-labeled DNA Nanostructure for Simultaneous Detection of Ochratoxin A and Aflatoxin B1

Based on DNA strand replacement reaction and aptamer-specific recognition, a simple dual-labeled DNA nanostructure is designed for the simultaneous detection of Ochratoxin A (OTA) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB₁). C1 is labeled with Cy3 and Cy5, while C2 and C3 are labeled with BHQ2. The fluorescence intensity of DNA nanostructure composed of C1, C2 and C3 is weak because of fluorescence resonance energy transfer. When OTA Aptamer (OTA-Apt) and AFB1 Aptamer (AFB₁-Apt) are added to the homogeneous system at the same time, C1 can be replaced with the help of toehold strand displacement, resulting in fluorescence enhancement. In the presence of both OTA and AFB₁, the toehold strand displacement reaction is inhibited due to preferential binding between the target and their corresponding aptamers. The limit of detection of OTA was 0.007 ng/mL and that of AFB₁ was 0.03 ng/mL. The recoveries of OTA and AFB₁ were 96%-101% and 97%-101% in the corn sample, and 99%-101% and 92%-106% in the wine sample. Compared with other sensors, the preparation of this aptasensor needs simpler experimental steps and a shorter total-preparing time, confirming the convenient, rapid, and time-saving operation process.

DNA tetrahedron-besieged primer and DNAzyme-activated programmatic RCA for low-background electrochemical detection of ochratoxin A

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is the most toxic class of ochratoxins and has become a major threat to the environment, humans and animals. Therefore, research on the methods for its detection is also more urgent. Herein, we propose a low-background electrochemical biosensor based on a DNA tetrahedron-besieged primer and a DNAzyme-activated programmatic rolling circle amplification (RCA) that can be ultimately utilized for OTA detection in wine samples. Low-background detection can be achieved using the besieged primer via sequenced assembly of DNA tetrahedral nanostructures so that non-specific extensions of primer can be avoided. The target OTA-mediated DNAzyme activation initiates the programmatic RCA. Additionally, the catalytic property of silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) is integrated with the electrochemical assay to achieve high sensitivity for OTA detection. Benefiting from the aforementioned processes, a low-background, and highly sensitive electrochemical biosensor has been successfully constructed. This design is capable of detecting OTA at concentrations from 1 pg/mL to 10 ng/mL, and its lowest concentration limit is 0.773 pg/mL. Simultaneously, its validation in the detection of actual samples reveals that the proposed electrochemical biosensor has a lot of potential in food safety and environmental detection.

Fluorescence-based aptasensors for small molecular food contaminants: From energy transfer to optical polarization

Small molecular food contaminants, such as mycotoxins, pesticide residues and antibiotics, are highly probable to be passively introduced in food at all stages of its processing, including planting, harvest, production, transportation and storage. Owing to the high risks caused by the unknowing intake and accumulation in human, there is an urgent need to develop rapid, sensitive and efficient methods to monitor them. Fluorescence-based aptasensors provide a promising platform for this area owing to its simple operation, high sensitivity, wide application range and economical practicability. In this paper, the common sorts of small molecular contaminants in foods, namely mycotoxins, pesticides, antibiotics, etc, are briefly introduced. Then, we make a comprehensive review, from fluorescence resonance energy transfer (in turn-on, turn-off, and ratiometric mode, as well as energy upconversion) to fluorescence polarization, of the fluorescence-based aptasensors for the determination of these food contaminants reported in the last five years. The principle of signal generation, the advances of each sort of fluorescent aptasensors, as well as their applications are introduced in detail. Additionally, we also discussed the challenges and perspectives of the fluorescent aptasensors for small molecular food contaminants. This work will offer systematic overview and inspiration for amateurs, researchers and developers of fluorescence-based aptasensors for the detection of small molecules.

A label-free T4 polynucleotide kinase fluorescence sensor based on split dimeric G-quadruplex and ligation-induced dimeric G-quadruplex/thioflavin T conformation

The phosphorylation process of DNA by T4 polynucleotide kinase (T4 PNK) plays a crucial role in DNA recombination, DNA replication, and DNA repair. Traditional monomeric G-quadruplex (G4) systems are always activated by single cation such as K⁺ or Na⁺. The conformation transformation caused by the coexistence of multiple cations may interfere with the signal readout and limit their applications in physiological system. In view of the stability of dimeric G4 in multiple cation solution, we reported a label-free T4 PNK fluorescence sensor based on split dimeric G4 and ligation-induced dimeric G4/thioflavin T (ThT) conformation. The dimeric G4 was divided into two independent pieces of one normal monomeric G4 and the other monomeric G4 fragment phosphorylated by T4 PNK in order to decrease the background signal. With the introduction of template DNA, DNA ligase, and invasive DNA, the dimeric G4 could be generated and liberated to combine with ThT to show obvious fluorescence signal. Using our strategy, the linear range from 0.005 to 0.5 U mL^-1, and the detection limit of 0.0021 U mL^-1 could be achieved without the consideration of interference caused by the coexistence of multiple cations. Additionally, research in real sample determination and inhibition effect investigations indicated its further potential application value in biochemical process research and clinic diagnostics.

Amines-mediated β-glucose pentaacetate to generate photoluminescent polymer-carbon nanodots for visual monitoring the freshness of shrimp

In this paper, a portable fluorescence-based functional hydrogel loaded with β-d-glucose pentaacetate (β-D-GP) is designed for high-sensitive quantification of amine vapor and visual monitoring of freshness of shrimp. We found for the first time that amine vapor can mediate β-D-GP to generate photoluminescent polymer-carbon nanodots (PCNDs) with good optical properties. On this basis, a functional hydrogel sensing platform is simply formed by solidifying β-D-GP in agarose hydrogels. When exposure to the volatile amines released from the spoilage of shrimp, β-D-GP in hydrogel is immediately mediated by amines to generate PCNDs, resulting in obvious fluorescence-based color variation of functional hydrogel. Notably, a smartphone is used to obtain digital photographs and RGB (Red/Green/Blue) information of hydrogels for on-site quantitative analysis. The gray value of G/(R + B) of hydrogel shows good linearity with trimethylamine (TMA) vapor concentration in the range of 0-59.49 × 10^-9 mol dm^-3. More importantly, the G/(R + B) value of functional hydrogel is successfully used to assess the freshness of shrimp. Consequently, this strategy provides a low-cost, portable fluorescence analysis device with promising applications in achieving high-sensitive, nondestructive, and on-site food safety evaluation of animal-derived aquatic products.

Highly sensitive and specific assessment of ochratoxin A in herbal medicines via activator regeneration by electron transfer ATRP

A signal-off fluorescence biosensor for highly sensitive detection of OTA was constructed via the ARGET ATRP signal amplification strategy.