3D DNA Nanostructure-Based Biosensor Platform for DNA Detection Developed

A 3D DNA nanostructure-based biosensor platform for DNA detection has been developed to realize highly sensitive and selective DNA detection in biological fluids and enhance sequence specificity for SNP typing. The main findings were published as the cover article in Advanced Materials, 2010, 22, 4754-4758.

Biosensor is a device for the detection of an analyte that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector component. The traditional DNA sensors are constructed on the basis of a classic, linear DNA probe-based two-step assembly strategy that is insufficient to control the inter-probe and probe–target interactions on surfaces. To improve the recognition abilities of such heterogeneous surface probes, a 3D DNA nanostructure-based sensor platform came into being.

Because of the unparalleled self-assembly abilities of DNA molecules, DNA nanotechnology demonstrates promising application in constructing biosensors of versatile structures. The strategy to design and construct 3D nanostructured recognition probes on a surface provides a significantly enhanced spatial positioning range and accessibility of the probes on a surface over previously reported linear or stem-loop probe structures.

The nanostructure-based sensor platform was co-developed by Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics under Chinese Academy of Sciences and Arizona State University of America.