Simple chemiluminescence aptasensors based on resonance energy transfer

Optical aptasensors for quantitative detection of small biomolecules: a review

Aptasensors are aptamer-based biosensors with excellent recognition capability towards a wide range of targets. Specially, there have been ever-growing interests in the development of aptasensors for the detection of small molecules. This phenomenon is contributed to two reasons. On one hand, small biomolecules play an important role in living organisms with many kinds of biological function, such as antiarrhythmic effect and vasodilator activity of adenosine. On the other hand, the concentration of small molecules can be an indicator for disease diagnosis, for example, the concentration of ATP is closely associated with cell injury and cell viability. As a potential analysis tool in the construction of aptasensors, optical analysis has attracted much more interest of researchers due to its high sensitivity, quick response and simple operation. Besides, it promises the promotion of aptasensors in performance toward a new level. Review the development of optical aptasensors for small biomolecules will give readers an overall understanding of its progress and provide some theoretical guidelines for its future development. Hence, we give a mini-review on the advance of optical aptasensors for small biomolecules. This review focuses on recent achievements in the design of various optical aptasensors for small biomolecules, containing fluorescence aptasensors, colorimetric aptasensors, chemiluminescence aptasensors and other optical aptasensors.

Homogeneous assay of target molecules based on chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET) using DNAzyme-linked aptamers

We have designed a single-stranded DNAzyme-aptamer sensor for homogeneous target molecular detection based on chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET). The structure of the engineered single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) includes the horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-like DNAzyme, optimum-length linker (10-mer-length DNA), and target-specific aptamer sequences. A quencher dye was modified at the 3' end of the aptamer sequence. The incorporation of hemin into the G-quadruplex structure of DNAzyme yields an active HRP-like activity that catalyzes luminol to generate a chemiluminescence (CL) signal. In the presence of target molecules, such as ochratoxin A (OTA), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), or thrombin, the aptamer sequence was folded due to the formation of the aptamer/analyte complex, which induced the quencher dye close to the DNAzyme structure. Consequently, the CRET occurred between a DNAzyme-catalyzed chemiluminescence reaction and the quencher dye. Our results showed that CRET-based DNAzyme-aptamer biosensing enabled specific OTA analysis with a limit of detection of 0.27ng/mL. The CRET platform needs no external light source and avoids autofluorescence and photobleaching, and target molecules can be detected specifically and sensitively in a homogeneous manner.

Reusable light-emitting-diode induced chemiluminescence aptasensor for highly sensitive and selective detection of riboflavin

A novel reusable chemiluminescence aptasensor was developed based on aptamer recognition coupled with light-emitting-diode induced chemiluminescence (LED-CL) detection. The sensing approach was based on the design that the model analyte riboflavin (Rf) in sample solutions was captured by the immobilized aptamers and then eluted simply with alkaline luminol solution to catalyze the CL reaction between luminol and dissolved oxygen under high power LED irradiation. This design allowed a very simple (branch-free) flow way for the CL sensing system. The CL intensity versus the Rf concentration was linear in the range from 0.03 to 5ngmL(-1) with a limit of detection (LOD) down low to 8pgmL(-1). Without renewing the aptamer, the relative standard deviation (RSD) for seven consecutive detections is 2.33%; the sensor also showed good stability without performance deterioration after >100 times use. Up to 10000-fold of K(+), Na(+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+), and Fe(3+), 5000-fold for glucose and bovine serum albumin, 1000-fold of uric acid, 1500-fold of ascorbic acid (added with Fe(3+)), 100-fold of flavin mononucleotide and 200-fold of flavin adenine dinucleotide caused no significant interference with the determination of 0.5ngmL(-1) Rf. The sensor was applied for analysis of Rf in urine and food samples with the recovery of 94-103%. The advantages of reusability, simplicity, high sensitivity and selectivity provided by the LED-CL aptasensor will make it a good alternative tool for biological and food analysis.

DNAzyme-based turn-on chemiluminescence assays in homogenous media

In this work, novel biosensing systems were developed for DNAzyme-based assays in homogenous aqueous media. The two halves of a horseradish peroxidase mimicking DNAzyme were assembled onto different gold nanoparticle surfaces through hybridization with corresponding linking DNA sequences. In the analyses, the target molecules were recognized by the linking DNA. This recognition broke the hybridization and released the DNAzyme halves from the nanoparticle surface into the solution. Together, both the DNAzyme halves combined with a cofactor hemin and turned into a catalytic hemin/G-quadruplex structure, which amplified the luminol oxidation for a turn-on chemiluminescence signaling. Based on this nanoparticle-based DNAzyme-halves design, only low background noise showed up within the homogenous solution and no separation was required in the detection steps. Aptasensor and DNA sensor were developed and analyses of the target molecules adenosine and target DNA were achieved down to 0.7 μM and 0.3 nM respectively with satisfactory selectivity.